Demeter's Life
by Sleeping Tiger
Summary: [Cats] The events that took place up to, including, and past the Jellicle Ball, that formed the queen and all the cats surrounding her to be how we all know them to be! [Finished 12.26.05]
1. Newfound Kittens

_I decided to try my hand at a chapter story. I have the basic layout of it ready, and...it's gunna be long! Please read and review. _

_ Dislcaimer - I don't own Cats, but I do own a cat...and a dog...and a couple of birds...what was I saying again?  
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_**Chapter 1 - Newfound Kittens**_

The tribe of Jellicles in this particular junkyard was, at one point, dying. Many cats had left the tribe, others had died. Younger ones joined other tribes, and some had to be exiled. It wasn't until Deuteronomy took charge of the tribe that it began to flourish again. For a while, it was something as little as those who stayed in the tribe, for better or worse. Then kittens were born to the tribe. And strays were found and adopted by the tribe. Deuteronomy would never turn away a needy cat like the last Jellicle leader did. That leader felt that one needed to be worthy to enter this particular tribe, have something insanely special about them. Deuteronomy picked those who had a good heart, and were willing to take on their tribe as a family. And so, under Deuteronomy's watch, the tribe slowly began to grow again…

It was a moonless night. An orange tabby came running into the junkyard, panic stricken and out of breath. He called out to the other Jellicles that there had been a grievous atrocity down at the Train Station. (Well, not in so many words, as he was panting and trying to catch his breath.) Two queens came out in a panic to see what had upset this normally straight-faced cat. "Skimbleshanks? What's the matter?" A striped and spotted cat asked.

Coming close to his mate, Skimbleshanks collapsed against her and tried to catch his breath. "Jellylorum," he said to the other queen between breathes, "Go get Deuteronomy!" He then gasped for air, while his queen tried to calm him down.

During this cold night, Deuteronomy came down from his den, (which was far warmer than the vicarage wall.) His beautiful daughter, who had been talking to him in his den, and Jellylorum followed. "There are kittens," said the Irish cat to the others, having now caught his breath. "Abandoned! I saw it with my own eyes. Their mother came and hid them before taking off. I jumped off the Night Mail just as it was taking off…the stationmasters are going to be very upset with me." He shook his head, and took a breath.

"I called out after her, thinking maybe she would come back for the kittens, but she just looked at me and sneered. Then she ran faster than she was running before. I don't think she's coming back, Deuteronomy…" he trailed off, as though he wanted to say more, but another thought came to his head.

"Come on, we have to save the kittens from the cold. I asked them to stay put, but they're just kittens!"

Skimbleshanks led the way as Deuteronomy, his daughter, and Jellylorum followed. The way to the train station was a long way, and Deuteronomy was much older than he used to be, so he told the others to go ahead and he would catch up when he could. After what seemed like an eternity had passed in the bitter night, they came upon the tiny kittens, who were hidden under the platform of the train station. There were two of them, one older than the other. The older one, a red queen, was clutching her younger sister, a gold and black queen who could only babble and try and say words. The tiny red queen looked up at them in alarm.

"Hello," Jellylorum said softly, kneeling down to the two tiny kittens. "My name is Jellylorum. What's your name?"

The little red queen looked her up and let out a tiny little growl, (which sounded absolutely adorable to all who were listening, but they tried not to smile.) "My mommy calls me Bom-ba-lu-ri-na," she said slowly. "I pwacticed the name," she said proudly, before turning away slightly. Her baby sister mimicked "Bom-mi-na!"

"I'm taking care of my sister until my mommy comes back," she said forcefully, hissing slightly at the cats. (Again, the hiss sounded adorable coming from a tiny kitten, but the three did their best not to giggle.)

"What's your little sister's name?" Jellylorum asked, after clearing her throat.

"De-me-ter," Bombalurina said, still looking suspiciously at the three adult cats.

"That's a lovely name," Jellylorum said, smiling. "These are my friends, Skimbleshanks and Grizabella." She pointed to each as she introduced them. "We heard you were alone out here."

"Nuh-uh!" Bombalurina cried, her fur tufting up at the statement. "My sister has me! My mommy told me to take care of her! I'm taking care of her," she said again, hugging her sister, who now mumbled "Mama."

"Oh, and you're doing a very good job," Skimbleshanks interjected. "You know, we have a nice place for you to stay, if you'd like. It's a junkyard with lots of little kittens for you to play with." Bombalurina put her sister down, tired of carrying her, and instead stood over her, hissing at them. Skimbleshanks looked at the two queens accompanying him. They wanted to get their trust, not think they're being kitten-napped. But what could they do? The kitten thought her mother was coming back for them…

Grizabella bent down next to the tiny red queen. "You know," she said gently, "You remind me a lot of Munkustrap. He is a brave little kitten, just like you. In fact, we have lots of kittens in our tribe, and they are so much fun to play with. Why, there is even a kitten Demeter's age! And Jellylorum, and Skimbleshanks, and Jennyanydots, and I watch over them."

"Some more than others," Jellylorum said under her breath. Grizabella gave her a look before turning back to the kitten. However, little Bombalurina's attention was on her sister, who had crawled over to Grizabella's painted nails and started poking at them. Grizabella, smiling, picked the little kitten up before anyone could stop her. Bombalurina cried and began to throw a fit over the fact that her sister had just been taken from her. Grizabella simply patted Bombalurina on the head. However, before Jellylorum or Skimbleshanks could yell at Grizabella for her lack in judgment, Old Deuteronomy sauntered up behind them. He was slightly out of breath, but the scolding look from his eyes did not go unnoticed, and Grizabella put the tiny gold queen down.

When Bombalurina took her sister into her arms again, she crawled into a dark corner. Deuteronomy allowed himself to catch his breath before lying down as close as he could, without scaring the kitten any more. Then, in the gentlest and most sincere voice anyone could imagine, he said to her, "I am very amazed at how you protect your sister! And I have a lot of respect for you for that. I understand if you don't want to go with us, but is it alright if I stay here with you for the night?" The little kitten came out of her corner just enough to look intently over at Old Deuteronomy. That idea sounded heavenly. She was so frightened at the thought of staying out here with her sister alone…

She nodded over to Old Deuteronomy, quickly picked up her sister and put her by his nice soft fur. Then she curled up on the outside, close enough to get his warmth, but giving her little confused sister just enough breathing room. Slowly, she nodded off to sleep, and soon the two kittens started to purr.

Skimbleshanks smiled at the others. A look flashed across his face then, and he hit his forehead as though he forgot something so important, he was stupid to forget it. Then he ran off without another word. The other two smiled at the tiny kittens, and Jellylorum put a paw on Old Deuteronomy's shoulder in congratulations for a job well done. The two queens turned and left for the night, (not before Jellylorum hit Grizabella for her stupidity). They had other kittens to take care of.

Within a few moments, Skimbleshanks came back with a blanket that was meant for the sleeping cars. He put it over the three, and Deuteronomy nodded his head in thank you. Skimbleshanks then returned to his post while Deuteronomy kept watch over the kittens that night. With a proud smile of a father looking over his children, he knew they would be safe in the Jellicles' care.

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_So that was chapter one. I hoped you liked it and are GRIPPED all the way to chapter two. You get to meet alot of baby Jellicles. And don't forget to review! ._ _It's not the best chapter in the world, but I had to start somewhere._  



	2. A New Family

Chapter 2 - A New Family!

The next day, as Jennyanydots and the other cats went about their business, they wondered what happened to the kittens and why Old Deuteronomy hadn't returned. It wasn't until the late afternoon that his tottery legs carried him into the junkyard, two kittens along for the ride. Jellylorum beamed with pride, as the other cats came down from the junk piles to see the arrival of the new kittens. Deuteronomy placed the tiny cats down, and little Bombalurina stood close to baby Demeter as she took in the vast junkyard. "I'll stay with you if you would like," Deuteronomy said to the little red queen. But before he could get an answer, Bombalurina raced off, leaving her sister and Old Deuteronomy behind.

"What the--?" A little Maine Coon cried. He was the oldest of the kittens, and Bombalurina had tackled him with ease. She was hugging him tightly.

"Can you be my boyfriend?" she asked the kitten. (She had heard the term used excessively by her mother…) She began purring as she nuzzled the confused tom kitten.

"That's the Rum Tum Tugger," Jellylorum laughed. "We just call him Tugger. He should be used to that by now."

"Tugger is my boyfriend," she claimed, taking the confused Maine Coon kitten, who was, at that point, twice her age. Tugger just shrugged as Bombalurina led him to her sister, (who she suddenly remembered), and picked her up. Demeter tried to speak the word her sister had used, but only managed, "Bo-fen!"

"If you want, little cutie," Tugger began, milking the attention from the happy queen kitten for all it was worth, "I can show you around the junk--"

"OKAY!" Bombalurina turned to Old Deuteronomy, beckoning him to bend closer with her paw. When he was at her level, Bombalurina whispered "Um….uh…Can I go?"

Old Deuteronomy chortled to himself before saying in a gentle voice, "Of course!" Bombalurina adjusted baby Demeter in her arms. (The little butterball was a lot for a kitten her age to carry.) Then Tugger led the way, with Bombalurina practically floating behind him.

The kitten-proofed section of the junkyard was insanely huge in the eyes of a tiny kitten. Tugger walked her into one room, the most padded and comfortable one (which was made inside of an open trunk of a car). He then threw his hand up in the air in a showy fashion.

"This is where all the baby kittens go who can't really walk around yet," he said, obviously having taken Demeter into consideration. "See?" he pointed at one lone kitten in the room, who was sitting upright and staring curiously at the three who had entered. "That's Mistoffelees," he pointed out. The shy kitten ducked his head at the sound of his name, as though he were in trouble.

"Look, Demeter!" Bombalurina feigned excitement, as most do with babies. "A kitten for you to play with!" After the little red kitten placed Demeter next to Mistoffelees, they stared at each other in confusion. In an attempt to figure out the new creature in his presence, tiny Mistoffelees poked his adversary in the stomach. Demeter, who apparently found nothing comical about being poked, began a slow ascent into crying.

"Hey!" Bombalurina scooped her sister up in her arms, and flicked Mistoffelees in the tail as punishment. When he started howling in 'pain', Tugger took Bombalurina's arm and yanked her out of the room.

Outside, tiny Mistoffelees cries of supposed death could plainly be heard. Tugger looked at Bombalurina in horror. "Why did you do that for? We're gunna get in…" He trailed off as his ears perked up. Without another word, he pulled Bombalurina and the now calm Demeter behind a pile of cereal boxes. Not two seconds later, Jennyanydots came rushing into the room to see why tiny Mistoffelees was in such peril.

"Come on!" Tugger whispered in a slight panic. He didn't want to get blamed for this! He dragged Bombalurina's arm and they ran to the general play area where he crashed right into a little silver tabby. "Ow!"

"Hey!" cried the silver tabby. He was only slightly older than Bombalurina, but seemed much more centered than most kittens. Bombalurina could already tell by the air about him.

"Munkustrap!" Tugger exclaimed, obviously glad to see him. "Look! We have new kittens! This is….uh….um…wait a second, I'll remember this…"

"My name is Bom-ba-lu-ri-na," she pronounced each syllable so she was sure they both understood. She then pinched the young Tugger for not asking her name to begin with. He frowned at her while she introduced her sister. "And this is my baby sister. Her name is De-me-ter." She looked Munkustrap over quickly. "Gridda-bella said I remind her of you."

"Who?" Munkustrap asked, slightly taken aback by this very pretty little queen he had never seen before. He thought about that one for a second. "Oh! Grizabella," he said, looking to the Maine Coon, who frowned slightly. "We don't like her very much," he admitted.

"I don't either," Bombalurina whispered. "Um…why is that kitten staring at me?" She pointed to a little black and white tom, who was drooling at the sight of her. Another kitten behind him, who had been playing with a little cat toy, frowned at the tom. She then pulled the little black and white's tail and succeeded in getting his attention back.

"Oh, that's Alonzo," Munkustrap pointed. "He's kind of new. And so is she." He pointed at the sleek little queen. "She's…um…Cassava!"

"Cassandra," Tugger corrected the younger kitten. Bombalurina took the chance to put Demeter down. Tugger, noticing this, leaned in close to little Munkustrap. "Hey, bro, can you do your older brother a favor? Watch that little kitten for us?"

"Why?" Munkustrap asked, scrunching his little nose. He sat down to get a closer look at the tiny kitten. The only other time he'd seen a kitten so small was with Mistoffelees… (And he was still smaller than her!)

"Bombalurina!" Tugger spun around to the queen, not waiting for Munkustrap's answer. "We're gunna go and play with Bustober Jones's tail. Wanna come?" Alonzo and Cassandra were indicated in the "we" portion of that sentence, and they jumped at the chance. Bombalurina, however, scrunched her nose and muttered something. "Munkustrap will take care of Demeter," he promised.

"Hey! Wait, I didn--"

"Okay!" Bombalurina was glad to give her arms a rest, and the four of them bounded off to play with Bustober's tail.

"But…I wanted to go too!" Never being one to ignore his responsibility, he sulked next to the tiny gold and black queen, who stared at him. "Why aren't you with Mistoffelees?" he asked her. But he wasn't about to take her there himself. He thinks that red queen would surely kill him if he moved her sister…she looked like she could take on a Pollicle, the way she guarded her sister!

Baby Demeter pointed at the kitten and said in a cute sing song voice, "Boy-friend!"

"Huh!" Munkustrap shot straight up. "I'm not your boyfriend! Don't say that! Where….where does a kitten learn such things?" he asked no one in particular.

Just then, a small ginger cat strutted in. He was younger than Tugger, but older than Munkustrap. He also seemed to have an incredible lack of care for others – a frightening attribute for a kitten to possess.

"What's this?" he asked, poking Demeter in the head. Toppling over, Demeter looked confused. She then decided all was not right in her world and burst into tears.

"Macavity!" Munkustrap scolded, picking up the vertically challenged kitten and trying to comfort her. "She's not a THIS! She's a new Jellicle. Don't make her cry!" The little kitten buried her face into Munkustrap's fur, her cry turning into flustered sobs.

Pipsqueak Macavity shrugged and looked intently at the now calming Demeter. "What's wrong with 'her'?" (Apparently he refused to think of the kitten as a real creature.)

"You hurt her," Munkustrap said, trying to soothe her. He was doing his best to act as he had seen the mother cats do to the baby kittens. "She doesn't like being poked in the head!" To himself, he thought, 'If Bombalurina finds out her sister is crying, she'll hurt me, I know it…'

Macavity smiled devilishly at Munkustrap, who was now in no position to defend himself. One of his favorite pastimes was to tackle and pin Munkustrap until he cried for mercy. The ginger kitten got low to the ground and wiggled her shoulders in preparation…

"Macavity!" Jennyanydots came out, holding a now calm Mistoffelees, and shook her head. "How many times have I told you not to make kittens cry?" She held out Mistoffelees as proof. He decided to calm himself by sucking on his paw.

Pipsqueak Macavity rolled his eyes and pointed at the tuxedoed kitten. "I didn't make THAT one cry!" But Jennyanydots wasn't listening, and shooed Macavity out of the vicinity with her incessant lecturing. "If you weren't Deuteronomy's grandson, I'd…" Her voice trailed off as she ran after the rug rat.

By that time, Bombalurina had come back to see what had caused her little sister to cry. Quickly, she took baby Demeter from little Munkustrap and hissed at him. "What did you do?" Tugger and the others came into view just afterwards, in awe of Bombalurina's incredible hearing. (They hadn't heard a kitten cry!)

Munkustrap threw up his hands in defense, certain Bombalurina was going to clock him. "It wasn't me! It was Macavity!" He looked over to the young Tugger for help.

"Oh, Macavity," Tugger said, putting himself between the two kittens. (Apparently, he wouldn't put it past Bombalurina to attack the other kitten, either…) "He's an awful kitten. No one likes him. He's always making other kittens cry…Honest!" He added, when Bombalurina seemed to glare at the fluff ball.

"Macavity," she said with disgust, as though trying to imprint in her mind the vulgarity of the name.

"How many times have I told you kittens not to play with my tail when I'm sleeping?" A fat black and white cat came around the corner, waving his spoon while waddling over to the kittens. "Oh, who's this now?" he asked, forgetting his anger at the sight of new members of the Jellicle family. (He also took a moment to catch his breath.)

"That's Bombalurina, Mr. Jones," Munkustrap said, pointing at said queen. She nodded at the correct pronunciation of her name, and smiled forgiveness on the silver tom.

"And this is my sister," Bombalurina said, holding her sister up proudly. "Demeter!"

And as though prompted by all the pointing and usage of words, Demeter pointed at Munkustrap and said, "Boyfriend!" Munkustrap felt the heat flow to his face as the others looked from the innocent baby to the flustered kitten. The other kittens then began laughing and taunting the little silver tabby, who took to hiding behind the wide coat of Bustober Jones' frame.

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_The only reason this came out so soon was because I'm very excited about the story! Ever start writing and there's a certain point you want to get to in a story, and i don't mean the end. Well, that's how I feel with this. Heh, did that make sense? _

_ Thank you Krissy4 for your review! Yeah, some things I will obviously put in. You can't stretch too far when you want to explain something that everyone believes about the character in the first place. But it's the moments in between that I want to get at. The slow building to why Demeter is so shy and nervous. And thank you for your encouragement! I honestly didn't expect any reviews until, like, the 3rd or 6th chapter! I'm elated!  
_


	3. Orphaned Kitty

Chapter 3 Orphaned Kitten

Time passed, and the little kittens grew older. For Munkustrap, this wasn't exactly the best time in his life. He had already proven how responsible a little kitty he was by taking care of the younger kittens, and being far more responsible than the kittens older than him, like Macavity, Rum Tum Tugger, or Alonzo. He also did a lot to keep the other kittens out of trouble. You would think that all that stress on a young kitten would stunt his growth…

And what stress it was! Tugger got into a lot of mischief simply by being Tugger. He hardly had to TRY to get in trouble, as his popularity and personality did that for him. Alonzo was a pugnacious little kitten who liked to get into play fights, and sometimes got into REAL fights on the streets. He would come back wounded sometimes, and there had been times that he would bring the fight back to the junk yard, in which case Munkustrap would help him drive the intruder away. But that was hardly as bad as Macavity's mischief. He had taken to pulling massive pranks on kittens and cats alike. Already, his personality was growing too big for the junkyard.

But the little kitten's stress did not go unnoticed. His grandfather noticed he was growing up too fast, and had a discussion with his grand kitten. So, with great difficulty, he let the others be, and cared for himself for a while. Why shouldn't he have a chance to play with the kitty toys, even if there was a kitten crying on the sides? Why should he be the one keeping others out of mischief, when he had mischief HE would have liked to cause? And why should he get into other peoples fights, when he had his own fights to worry about?

So Munkustrap decided, after trying to keep Tugger and his entourage of queen kitties out of trouble on the Maine Coon's search for the "perfect den", that it was time for Munkustrap to have a little Munkustrap time. He pulled himself away from the others, and the tired little kitten jumped up on an old canvas chair, curled up, and began to drift to sleep.

His tired little green eyes were closing, and he began to drift to sleep…

"OW!" Munkustrap jumped up and wheeled around to find he hand somehow fished a little kitten on his swishing tail. The little gold and black kitten had pounced and bitten the end and now was pulling the tail, hoping to take it away with her. "Demeter! I'm trying to sleep!" He tugged his tail, but the young kitten refused to let go.

"Let. Go. NOW!" He tugged his own tail hard just as Demeter let go. Needless to say, he rolled off the chair and crashed to the floor.

"I thought cats were supposed land on their feet," Demeter wondered out loud.

'Why did she have to learn how to say speak?' Munkustrap thought to himself, rolling his eyes. She had become quite the happy little kitten, talking non-stop with Munkustrap and Bombalurina, and sometimes the other cats. She hadn't a care in the world. Her favorite past time? Pouncing an unsuspecting Munkustrap. Why? Because his reactions were the best of all the kittens she had pounced! Aside from Mistoffelees…that poor kitten was a nervous little thing because of her, but he had made quite an art of disappearing on her the second she looked away.

"How are you, Munku?" She jumped down and batted at his swishing tail, still throbbing from having been bitten.

"Tired," he said, starting to walk off. This was _Munkustrap_ _time_. Not _annoying_ _little_ _gold and black queen time_. "Can I have a moment alone?" He said, remembering to at least have manners

"Why?" Demeter asked. "It's so much more fun to play! Play with me, pweaaaaassseee! Bomby won't play with me, Tugger always calls me a pipsqueak, Cassandra only likes to play her games, Alonzo is too rough, and I can't find Misto!"

"Then go play with a cat," Munkustrap said, waving a paw at her. He wasn't going to give in. He WASN'T.

"Auntie Jelly is too serious, Auntie Jenny always tries to make me sew, Uncle Skimbly is never here, and Uncle Bustober is so cranky when he doesn't eat." She stopped for a moment to think of who she forgot, then continued. "Gus only wants to tell me stories about the theatre, and Gran'pa Duet it too old. Auntie Grizabella said you would play with me!"

'Of course she said that,' he thought to himself. 'She always pawns me off on you. That's why she's your favorite…' Out loud he said in a calm voice, "But I'm tired Demeter."

"PLAY WITH ME!" she bawled.

"ALRIGHT! ALRIGHT!" Munkustrap looked around, annoyed and cranky. What could they play? "Hmm…how about the quiet game?" he mewed hopefully.

"The quiet game?" She looked intrigued. This was his chance.

"Yeah. The older kittens play it all the time. What you do is we both go quiet, and whoever can stay quiet the longest wins. Doesn't that sound fun?"

"Umm…" Demeter screwed up her nose in thought.

"Oh, no!" Munkustrap exclaimed in monk horror. "You can't talk, or you'll lose!" Demeter made an audible gasp and covered her mouth with her paws. Munkustrap smiled. Maybe this would work. He then found a nice spot, curled up, and laid down.

"Have we started yet?" whispered the little queen.

"Yes," he said without opening his eyes.

"Did I lose?" the kitten mewed sadly.

"No," Munkustrap said, opening his eyes and turning around to her.

"Then does that mean I won!" Her eyes glimmered with hope.

"Everlasting Cat, no!" Munkustrap huffed. Minor set-back. It' all right, lets just try this again. "That was just a practice, ok? Look, we'll start the real game starting….NOW!" The fidgety little Demeter dramatically put her paw over her mouth. Munkustrap smiled devilishly and resumed his spot.

Little Demeter stirred in her sitting position, staring at the tired kitten. She started to pace for a moment, but when Munkustrap opened his eyes to give her a look, she stopped and sat again. Then she stared…and stared some more. She did a bit of grooming, hoping to take up some time and energy, and then she resorted to scratching her ear. Then she poked at the silver waving tail, which quickly flickered up and out of the way, the green eyes not once opening. Demeter sighed.

Then she got into pouncing position. The tail was very tempting, waving around like a silver fish in a tiny pond… She wiggled her little rump as most kittens do, and this tell tale sign was followed by—

There was a loud yelp that escaped Munkustrap's mouth, as he was yanked out of his half-sleeping state. Simultaneously, he shot up, causing the kitten, who had landed on his back, to fly forward and smack into the drawer of an old discarded desk, the momentum of a flying kitten ramming into the end causing it to slam shut.

"Everlasting Cat, Demeter! …Are you okay?" He raced over to the desk drawer and yanked it open. The little kitten looked slightly fazed. Munkustrap shoved her slightly with his paw. The kitten looked into his eyes for a moment, before a huge grin split across her face.

"I WIN!" she screamed. She hopped out of the desk and danced around doing an "I won!" dance while a black cloud seemed to loom over the little tom kitten. "Now let's play tag! You're it!" She poked Munkustrap and ran off, looking back momentarily to see how far ahead she was before running out of sight.

"Ow," the kitten moaned, rubbing where the playful little queen had poked him. He had spent half the day chasing after Tugger, he wasn't about to chase after her. Curling up, he scoffed to himself and took in a deep breath. He then let his furrowed brow rest, telling himself that she would get the hint soon

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The happy little kitten ran through the various piles of the junkyard laughing to herself and thinking she had outrun Munkustrap. She looked behind her to make sure that he wasn't being followed when—

"Mew!" she yelped as she crashed into a furry body. Looking up, the barely fazed Macavity was working madly on some little human gadgets, apparently trying to get them to work, without any idea how. When Demeter kept staring at him, slightly dazed but no less curious, he sighed, shoulders drooping, before putting down the strange objects and looking down at the little kitten.

"What are you doing here, _kitten_," he said harshly. Apparently being twice her age at the time, he felt like he needn't be bothered by kittens, even though he was still much the kitten himself. His ginger fur looked well taken care of, but certainly only because the cats made him care about his furs' appearance.

"I was playing with Munkustrap!" she said cheerfully. She so rarely sees this strange kitten; she all but forgot he existed! Though he was said to torment the kittens, she was always protected by Bombalurina or Munkustrap, (mainly because she was always following one or the other.) "Wanna play?"

He rolled his eyes quite dramatically. "Can't you see I'm working here? Now go off and do whatever it is that kittens do." He waved his paw at her and turned to go back to his things.

"But…you're a kitten," she stated dumbly. "So, can I do what you're doing?"

"I'm not a _kitten_…I'm just age challenged." He said, not taking his eyes off his project. "And I don't need the help of an orphaned little kitten."

"Orphaned?" Demeter asked. "What's that mean?"

"It means you have no parents…Oh, great! Now look what you made me do!" he growled slightly, as the item in his hand started sparking out of control. He was tempted to hit the kitten, were it not for his motivation to finish his projects. That meant no major distraction…What could he do to fix this? He needed human tools…and to figure out how to work them.

"I have a mommy!"

"What?" Macavity looked around as though he forgot the little queen was actually in his presence.

"Bomby said that our mommy left us with the Jellicles so that they could take care of us until she came back for us!" Demeter stated proudly. Macavity stared at the little girl before smirking. Then his smirking turned into an amused laugh.

"I forgot how dumb kittens were," he said to her, who looked up at him in confusion. Then, he bent so close to the little kitten, she could smell the tuna on his breath, and said in a malicious little voice, "Mothers abandon their kittens all the time. And they don't come back for them. They leave them for good! Like Alonzo. His mom dumped him in a trashcan and he wondered around like an idiot until he ran into Jenny. And Cassandra? Dumped at the entrance! And you and your sister? Left in the cold at a train station until Skimbleshanks found you. And you know why that happens to those kittens? Their mommies don't want them."

"I…don't get it," she said in a very feeble voice.

"Well no wonder your _mommy_ left you. Can't even understand something as simple as that? Let me dumb it down for you. You're not worth another cat's attention. Your own mother didn't want you. And I'm sure none of the other cats want you either. And soon your sister is going to leave you. And it would serve you right for chasing your mommy away. You're like a pesky little mouse squeaking in their ear when they sleep. And you know what I do with mice?" He threw the broken object in his hands against a pile of junk, making it spark up dramatically before crashing to the floor in pieces.

Demeter screamed, and ran as Macavity laughed at the kitten. 'About time she got away from me,' he thought before turning back to his projects.

* * *

Demeter didn't quite understand everything that was said to her, but she got the basic idea. Orphaned meant that she was bad and her mother didn't want her. And she probably made mommy leave Bombalurina too. It was all her fault. As her little mind tried to grasp this concept, she absentmindedly found her way back to Munkustrap, who had been catnapping…not even looking for her…

"Munkustrap?" she asked in an unusual voice. The silver kitten couldn't hide the annoyed look on his face before replacing it with concern when he saw the expression on the tiny queen. But that look was enough. She burst into tears and ran off to find Bombalurina. Munkustrap ran to look for her, but when he finally found her, Bombalurina hissed at him and took her crying sister away. Whenever her sister was sad, Bombalurina detested anyone who would dare come near her.

Including those with good intentions…

* * *

_Authors note: I hate physics. Isn't that all that matters in life? Just kidding. Anyways...to get on with things..._

_ Mystitat: Thank you for your review! And yes, I believe Grizabella has been suffering from bad judgement calls her whole life. Oh, how I wish people like that didn't exist! The paragraph thing I should keep an eye out. My first time being the Omnipotent Author! And I DO read through it! Up to three times! Outloud! This one I only read once though...(so don't be surprised if you find typos in it). Oh, and I acutally did mean to use insanely. Maybe not the best choice of words, but I couldn't think of a good word and I was trying to get that paragraph out of the way. So it's not a typo, per say, just my lack of a thesaurus! Lol! _

_ Krissy4: Heh, I'm glad my Macavity amuses you! prolly not so much in this chapter, but he grew meaner as he grew older. Damn little pipsqeuak!_

_Thank you for reading and reviewing! Please feel free to review...review...and review. oh, and actually read the chapter. Isn't that what i should be pushing for? >  
_


	4. Lamenting Motherfigure

Chapter 4 - A Lamenting Mother Figure

Demeter had been pretty close to Grizabella ever since she was really young. This was probably due to the fact that, unlike the other cats who played mother to all the kittens, Grizabella obviously had favorites. The beautiful cat began falling in love with the two abandoned kittens for a few reasons. For one thing, they were both gorgeous little queens. This reminded her of herself when she was a kitten, and she knew they would grow up to be as beautiful as her. Another is that her kittens were boys, and she had always wanted girls. But Grizabella loved Demeter much more than she did the little red queen because of the obvious fact that Bombalurina had never liked Grizabella since she could remember. Demeter, however, was young and impressionable.

Bombalurina often left her younger sibling with Grizabella only because she wanted time for herself. She trusted the older queen to at least care for her sister, and the little red queen was coming to an age where she wanted to spend time with kittens her own age, rather than tied down to a kitten a little more than half her age.

Demeter loved to spend some time with Grizabella in the past because she would entertain the little kitten with individual attention like most mothers should. And when she had nothing to entertain the kitten with, or wanted to be alone, the cat would make a million suggestions on who to play with, and what she could play, making the kitten brim with ideas and run out, looking for the appropriate play mate.

Over the next few months, however, things had become difficult for the two. Demeter seemed to be looking for a mother figure, and Grizabella was unfortunately the only cat she could see as such. But Demeter could clearly see that Grizabella was depressed over something. When she asked her what was the matter, Grizabella simply replied that she was trying to figure out how to say goodbye to someone she loved. Demeter didn't quite understand, but she let out the sympathy of a kitten: utterly selfless, and completely innocent.

As Demeter could recall, she woke up one morning, lying against the would-be mother. Grizabella, however, was looking at her reflection in the old discarded hubcap of a car. When Demeter commented on how pretty she was, hoping to get praise, Grizabella simply nodded sadly, a far off look in her eyes.

One day, after her mild infatuation with the thought of having a mother figure, she decided to leave her steadfast venture for a more playful one. These days, she so rarely spent time with the other kittens; they were all surprised to see her. She had changed from the playful kitten she once was, and the other kittens weren't too sure what to make of it.

"What are you all doing?" she asked, sitting down next to Mistoffelees. He pointed at the kittens, fairly new to the tribe. The little gold queen was shocked to see how fast the moderately newborn kittens had grown. They were so cute, pawing at each other playfully. Some were unable to talk, only able to make little mewling sounds. The others would attempt words, but the litter of kittens was mostly made up of younger ones, the tiniest a little turtle-shell kitten who chomped onto the tail of a white kitten, the oldest of the little queens.

Alonzo and Mistoffelees decided they wanted to play with the tiny Jellicles, and Demeter and Bombalurina joined them. Cassandra (who enjoyed the minuscule kittens about as much as a Pollicle's breath) instead decided to take a stroll. Tugger came in later to join them. The little queens enjoyed his attempts to get them to smile and laugh, and they would hardly divert their attentions from the older kitten. The tiny toms were happy to get into little wrestling matches, Alonzo cheering them on. Little Mistoffelees let the kittens crawl all over him, and pretended like he was losing the fight. (In reality he was pretending that he was pretending. He was the smallest and youngest of the older kittens, and three tiny toms easily overpowered him. Did that make sense? Anyways, we're in the beginning of the middle of this chapter, so let's continue…)

After a while of playing, Demeter decided to play the mother kitten as she had seen Jennyanydots do. She picked up each kitten and lined them up on the matting from biggest (that being baby Pouncival) to the smallest (that being baby Electra.) But before she could start a game of pretend (teaching them to crochet), a frazzled Munkustrap came in.

"I said stop it!" he whined.

He was very proud of his brand new collar. A family had found him and "adopted" him into their house (though he easily escaped through the kitty door…not that he wouldn't go back.) But at the sight of this new collar, Macavity decided that it should be his.

The little ginger kitten had reached a stage where he became increasingly jealous of whatever his younger brother had. And what with his older brother, the Rum Tum Tugger, already having been adopted into a home, the annoyance was too much. He would detest having humans to begin with, but it was the principle of the thing…

Poor little Munkustrap looked as though he had been in a pretty rough fight. But when he saw the other kittens in front of him, he instinctively turned around to face his foe, who slinked in with a sly look on his face. Munkustrap felt the fur on the back of his neck rise. Why he suddenly felt prepared for another fight, he didn't know.

The hungry look in Macavity's eyes disappeared as his gaze went from Munkustrap's collar to the kittens all lined up in a row. "What are these?" he asked, poking baby Pouncival. Like a domino effect, one fell onto the other until all seven kittens had toppled over, and started to cry. The older kittens quickly swooped down to help the crying kittens and Macavity did his best to suppress a laugh. Then he was confronted by little Munkustrap and little Alonzo.

"You did that on purpose!" Munkustrap yelled, pointing at the little ginger kitten. (Alonzo mimicked Munkustrap in his movements.) "Why do you have to do that everywhere you go?" he asked hypothetically.

"I hardly cried that much when I was that young," young Macavity said. Munkustrap and Alonzo were ready to fight their adversary when Grizabella walked in, annoyed.

"You're interfering with my beauty sleep," she said grumpily. She then blinked her eyes as she surveyed the room. Little Mistoffelees was comforting baby Victoria, Tugger was comforting the other baby queens, and Bombalurina was comforting poor baby Pouncival, (who seemed most perturbed at being the one who was actually poked). Demeter, who was nuzzling little Plato while trying to calm Tumblebrutus down, looked up helplessly at Grizabella. "What happened here?" she asked, putting her paw on her hip.

"Macavity made the kittens cry," Demeter said plainly.

Macavity looked astounded at the accusation against him. "I didn't do anything!" he claimed. But Grizabella knew him enough not to believe that pathetic lie.

"Come on, I'm taking you to your grand-father, he'll know what to do," she said, an admonishing look on her face the best she could muster. "He'll show you how to respect kittens…and adult cats, as well. It's about time you learned."

"Shouldn't you be doing something about that?" the little ginger kitten snapped back. The other kittens had gotten the newborns out of the way. This didn't seem to be going well…

"I don't have time to teach you these things. Your time would be better spent with Old Deuteronomy. He's a much better teacher than I am."

But a boiling anger seemed to flare up in the kittens' eyes. He wasn't about to be told off in front of kittens he had spent a good amount of time getting to "respect" him. And least of all by the glamour cat - who had no time for little ones, but all the time in the world for herself. In a swift movement, his claws bared, he scratched Grizabella straight across her pretty face before turning and running away. Even he knew he crossed the line at outwardly attacking an older cat.

"My face! He hurt my face! That wretched little kitten hurt my face!" Though the wound wasn't at all that deep, the horror at being taken down a peg by a kitten in front of other kittens was absolutely humiliating. And soon enough the awful awareness that the scratch might have left a cosmetic scar across her face sank in, and panic ran through her veins. "That little wretch!"

"Grizabella, are you okay?" Demeter slinked up to the flustered queen and tried to nuzzle her, but Grizabella made a frustrated motion with her arms, and ran out of the play area before tears would come streaming down her eyes.

After a moment of silence among the Jellicle kittens, Jennyanydots came rushing in. "Why did Grizabella leave here in tears?" she demanded.

"Macavity scratched her," Bombalurina said, becoming the spokesperson for the calming kittens.

Jennyanydots shook her head. "That kitten is becoming more brazen everyday…" And without another word about that, she started to handle the baby kittens, who had begun to calm down.

* * *

_Aww, thanks to everyone who reviewed, Mystitat, Krissy 4, and AJNemo. It's so funny, cause I wasn't writing Macavity to be so amusing, he just came out that way. In fact, it all started out as an inside joke of poking a tarutaru in the head (Final Fantasy Online) and watching him topple over because his head is bigger than his body.   
_

_ Anyways, I read on a website once that she didn't "know why Macavity kidnapped Old D. Maybe he was just too evil, haha!" I can't quote it exactly, but that's basically what she said. And I stopped and thought, yeah, why does he have to be pure evil? The only problem is his character might be one I can't control. Damn him, he IS pure evil! I don't know if that made sense, lol. But you might see what i mean later on. He writes himself, i think. _

_ Thank you for reading, and please keep along with me! There is alot more chapters to come, some more mediocre and explanatory, some fluff and stuff, but some good if I say so myself, so I hope you'll stay until the end!_

_ -That was Sleeping Tiger, talking too much _


	5. A Sad Goodbye

**_Chapter 5 - A Sad Goodbye_**

Demeter sat next to Bombalurina. She was the youngest of the older kittens, but she was much more mature for her age than she should have been. Today, however, all she wanted to do was snuggle up to Bombalurina's coat, hug her, and cry. Tears streamed down her face, and Bombalurina, trying her best to comfort her younger sister, couldn't help but cry herself. Whether it was a realization that hit her that day that Demeter had long been dreading, or simply the pain of learning a harsh truth of reality, she wasn't sure. But she bitterly let her tears fall from her eyes.

The Tugger and Munkustrap looked at each other as though they wanted to do something, but what could kittens do? They were only so much older than the two sisters. They knew just as much as them. Mistoffelees went up to Demeter and Bombalurina, nuzzling them both sympathetically, but Bombalurina pushed him away. Alonzo looked to Munkustrap to see what he could do, but there was no example to follow here. They both only knew how to forcefully protect someone you care about, with a show of strength and maybe words if it called for it. Really he had to deal with someone else's broken heart.

And he also had no idea how to deal with his own…

It began shortly after Little Macavity's assault on the beauty of Grizabella. It didn't hurt that much, she admitted, but it was her good looks that threatened to be taken away. And Grizabella had slowly convinced herself that her beauty was her save all. While it may seem a shallow take on life, it was, at the time, her fall back. For she had lost someone she loved, and harshly at that.

Her mate had left her long ago. It was, on the surface, a good relationship. But this strong-willed queen not only held on fast to a tom who's passions lied elsewhere, she also held on fast to the idea that he loved her with all his heart, and nothing could change that. She was blind to the fact that he was and had always been a restless cat. She had never considered herself a bad cat. Her judgment wasn't always in line, but her heart was in the right place. However, the day that her mate left, the only thing he had to say to her, (probably to make her finally leave him alone), was that she was an awful mate, and only stayed for some insanity on his part. And with a few more harsh words along those lines, he left her without a mate in the Jellicle tribe. She was hardly by herself, but she had never felt more alone.

After that point, Grizabella didn't know what to do. She was, after all, only feline. While she had a few resources to fall to – her father, her friends, her kittens – she chose her beauty to comfort her. As long as she was beautiful, she would find someone who could love her. The blow to her self esteem was damaging, and he assaulted the goodness in her character, but he had never told her she was ugly.

So when Macavity threatened to take away her safe guard, the final thread that held her sanity into place seemed to tear along with the damaged skin on her face. Hardly thinking straight to begin with, she began a method of irrational thinking.

"I've made a decision to leave the Jellicle tribe and go out into the human world." All the cats stared at her. She was in front of Old Deuteronomy's den, and her friends and peers, many of whom she grew up with, were lined up in a semi-circle, like a jury wishing to decide her fate. "I'm only going to be young for so long," she continued as no one had spoken up. "I want to go out and see the world. This junkyard…it's holding me back. I don't want to look back in life and regret never having lived it. There's a glamorous life awaiting me outside the junkyard, and I want to take the chance and live it!"

Old Deuteronomy gazed down at her, his aged face crumpled in concern and sadness. The others began to speak. "What about the kittens?" Jennyanydots started.

"It's too dangerous out there!" Skimbleshanks remarked.

"I've lived out there," Old Asparagus said softly. "But please don't be fooled by my stories of what it's like out there. I've lived in the theatre most of my life. I was well taken care of. Many cats…they aren't so lucky."

"This isn't your fault, dad," Jellylorum said, placing a paw on his arm. She then turned to Grizabella. "What are you trying to say?" There was fury in her question as she did her best to stare down Grizabella. She had many problems with Grizabella, but this was over the top. "That we're holding you back?"

Bustober Jones, who rarely had anything to say on the things that happened in the junkyard, simply scoffed.

"You can live out your life to the fullest here," Jennyanydots suggested, looking around to her friends for agreement.

"You have no idea what you're getting yourself into," Skimbleshanks said with a mixture of anger and pity.

By this point, Grizabella had taken to covering her ears and crying, "Enough!" It took a few moments for the cats to calm down. When she finally looked up to Old Deuteronomy, who's gaze had not faltered, she knew what she wanted to say. "No matter what anyone says, my mind has been made up! I don't belong here. This is no place for me to live out my life! I need to leave, even if you," at this she broke her stubborn gaze and looked to the rest of the cats, "All of you, don't agree. I'm not here to ask for your permission. I just thought you should know."

All eyes fell on the sorrowful Old Deuteronomy. With a sigh, he walked down to his child, standing face to face with her, and put a hand on her cheek. "I know you're hurt, my dear, but leaving your family will only hurt you more." At this, Grizabella felt she had been stabbed in the heart. Could her mate have been right? Was she an awful person? "You don't want to leave your kittens alone, do you? There are many regrets that can be avoided. Please rethink your decision."

"They've been raised enough by me," she said quietly to Old Deuteronomy. A strange look had overcome her face. She was holding back tears, anger, resentment, and understanding. "I haven't done ANYTHING wrong!" The way her friends were looking at her, with resentment in their eyes…she could practically hear their cries. 'You're a bad cat,' they seemed to say. 'You don't deserve what we give you.'

"I'm LEAVING, and that's all there is to it," and before the others could stop her, she raced away from the den and into the junkyard. Taking a quick glimpse back, she could see Old Deuteronomy staring after her with a longing to draw her back to the safety of his arms. Jennyanydots put a comforting paw on his shoulder. 'Stop it,' she thought in her head as she turned away from the scene. 'Stop trying to console him. No one ever did that for me.'

Grizabella absentmindedly ran back to her den. She curled up momentarily as though she had just outrun a Pollicle. Then, remembering what she was doing, she looked for anything important she would need before she left. Once she had finished, she turned to see Bombalurina holding Demeter by the paw, looking puzzled at her. It seemed Bombalurina had come to drop off Demeter as she usually does this time of day.

"Griza?" Demeter asked. The two seemed put off by her odd behavior. Grizabella hated herself for what she was about to do.

Taking a deep breath, she walked over to the two and gave them each a kiss on the forehead. (Bombalurina wasn't so quick to receive her kiss.) Then she got down on one knee. "I'm going to be leaving for a while. Isn't that exciting? I'm going to see the world!" She feigned a smile. The two stared at her. Then Bombalurina shook her head, her face falling into a horrified expression. Grizabella could have kicked herself. Is that what their mother said when she left?

"And you have to promise not to cry," she continued, turning to Demeter, who had a blank expression on her face. "You have to be strong. Like me." The contradiction demonstrated by Grizabella's words seemed to hit a nerve with the older kitten.

"Okay, Griza," Demeter said dumbly. Of course she wouldn't understand what was going on. But Bombalurina couldn't control herself.

As Grizabella passed them, the little red queen pulled her sister close to her and cried to Grizabella, "Why are you leaving? Aren't you supposed to love us?" Grizabella refused to look back.

The angry little queen felt her sister tug on her fur. "What's going on?" Demeter asked. Bombalurina's heart leapt into her throat. She had to protect her sister…

Other cats and kittens had gone out to see what was going on, as the cats had made quite the uproar in their proceedings. They watched as Bombalurina and Demeter jerkily followed the determined cat, not knowing where to go. Bombalurina's entire appearance seemed to have dull. She worked like a machine, jerking forward with her sister obediently following. "Why is she leaving?" Demeter asked her sister.

Skimbleshanks and Jennyanydots raced down to the two confused kittens and halted their pursuit. The moment Skimbleshanks lifted little Bombalurina off the ground, she started to cry. Demeter, looked to her sister, then to Jennyanydots who held on to the small gold queen like her life depended on it. "Let me down!" Demeter started kicking and shouting. She didn't like what was happening. Why was her sister crying? Why was her would be mother walking away? "Let me down! Grizabella?"

Munkustrap and Tugger popped their heads out of their hiding places and watched the beautiful queen walk off. The two were tempted to run after her, but neither dared move. "Where is she going?" The silver cat asked her brother dazedly.

The Rum Tum Tugger sneered at the entire scene. But when he looked over to his confused brother, his face reverted back to a distressed one. He had always caused such trouble for his brother, always gotten into scrapes his younger brother tried to get him out of. Somehow he had forgotten how young he was... The maned kitten put a paw on his brother's shoulder. "She's…leaving."

"When is she coming back?" asked Munkustrap. Tugger couldn't answer that.

Jellylorum raced after the fleeing queen, who seemed more determined than ever to leave the junkyard, her home. "Wait a minute!" she called after her. "Think about this. We wouldn't ask you to stay if it weren't for your own good!" But the cat kept walking. "You don't want to leave everything dear to you, do you?" she tried. In aggravation, the other finally called out, "You don't want to be like your mate, do you?"

At this, Grizabella spun around and took a swipe at the cat who was once her friend. The snarl on her beautiful face said it all. 'Stay away from me.' And Jellylorum broke her pursuit.

Just before Grizabella left the junkyard, hoping to never return to the place her very morals would be put into question, she was stopped by a familiar soothing voice. "We are your family, Grizabella. Some may hate you if you leave." Grizabella looked up to the sky rather than her father. The moon was quite visible that day, even during the day time. "But you will always be my child. I will never hate you."

Grizabella sighed, adjusted her things, and left only tears in her wake.

* * *

_Thanks for the review AJNemo! I'm glad I get a bit of a giggle. I like making people laugh, even if this chapter was more serious. But I guess I was lucky I already had this planned out because I've been in a broody mood over these past two days, so it made writing this easier. Please keep reviewing people, I love feedback, and, well, could use some at times, heh. See what works and what doesn't. _


	6. How Older Kittens Play

**Chapter 6 - How Older Kittens Play**

Cuts mend together. Scrapes scab over and disappear. Bruises yellow and fade in time. If only emotions could heal that easily. It was bad when Grizabella left, but nearly unbearable for them to realize that she may never come back. Demeter began to dread being alone. It seemed every time she turned around someone important would leave. Though she knew she could count on her sister to always be there, there was always that nagging feeling that if she left her side, her sister would be gone. And again, she would have driven someone away…

Over time, however, the kittens grew older. Demeter was growing to be a fine, knowledgeable kitten. Although she was still young, not yet to the point of up and coming cathood, like her sister was inching towards, she was considered very smart among the cats of the tribe. Jellylorum and Jennyanydots became very found of her, and she found herself spending more time with the older cats than the other kittens, when not with her sister.

Bombalurina, on the other hand, was growing to be quite the beauty queen. She would flirt incessantly with any young tom that crossed her path. In an attempt to make her sister more open to things, Bombalurina planned on giving Demeter a lesson in flirting.

"Now," she began, her sister sitting on the second shelf of a thrown out bookcase, "The key is to just go with it. You're not trying for a long term relationship or anything here. We're just kittens, we don't need that. BUT we do want to get them to notice. Oh, shh! Go hide, here comes one." Demeter jumped to a higher section of the junk pile they were near and hid in a hollowed out television set. She loved her sister, but she was hunting toms to flirt with like they were mice!

The first prey came near. He was the older Alonzo. While he was nearing cathood, he certainly didn't act like it at times. "Hello, Alonzo," the young queen smiled as she spoke with a hint of musical tone to her words. The tom, who was using his walk alone to clean the weeds out of his bushy tail, stopped cold. A goofy smile came across his face as he realized that the seductive smile she was giving him wasn't just in his mind.

"Hi, Bomba," he said, letting go of his tail and standing up straight.

"I was just wondering," her eyes dropped to the floor before she turned her head away in a playful manner. "…if you had the time."

At this, Alonzo stared. He didn't seem too sure of what to say. Demeter was sure that he didn't even know what the question was. He was just kind of staring…goofily, at that. Demeter tried to hold back a laugh. Alonzo was at a loss for words. Surely, Bombalurina was done with him, because she looked off into the distance, and smiled a normal smile. "Oh, I think I see Cassandra!"

Alonzo snapped out of his daze and looked around as though he did something wrong. Bombalurina laughed lightly, and then nodded her head for her sister to follow. When Alonzo saw young Demeter hop out of the television set, smiling to herself while walking over to her sister, he realized he had just been victim to the red queen's game.

"So this is how older kittens play?" Demeter asked her sister as they walked a whiles to more populated area. She had to admit, any queen who could turn a question about the time into something to drool over was pretty amazing.

"You'll learn it soon enough, my sister," the young Bombalurina smiled, stretching her arms out in back of her. "You will soon have a power of appeal that NO tom will be able to resist! Just like me!"

"I think I would rather try for a _different_ kind of appeal," Demeter said softly. She hardly wanted to be in her sister's shadow. What's more…beauty seemed to be parted too easily. Her mother knew that. Grizabella knew that. When that was all one counted on, their happiness was too fragile and fleeting a thing. She didn't want her sister to become what the former beauty queens had become…

"Oh, here come two of them. Watch, this will be fun. Go, hide, hide!" Her sister seemed giddy with her game, but Demeter resented having to become invisible for her sister's enjoyment. "Hey there, kittens," Bombalurina winked at Pouncival and Tumblebrutus as they walked by. They were still very young, but they reveled in the attention.

"She was saying hi to me," Pouncival whacked his brother in the head when he started to wave to the gorgeous kitten in front of them. (Apparently, the fact that she used the plural form of kitten escaped their grasp.)

"No, she was to me!" But before Tumblebrutus could retaliate, Bombalurina made a movement, and the two went still. She lifted her paw up to her forehead and dabbed the non-existent sweat delicately with a handkerchief that seemed to appear out of nowhere. She then casually let it fall before she started walking off. Before it even touched the ground—

"SHE GAVE THAT TO ME!" Tumblebrutus yelled, snatching at the handkerchief. But Pouncival grabbed it first.

"It's _MINE_!" While the two fought over who should have the handkerchief with the fake sweat on it, Demeter snuck out of her hiding place and leaped over the two young, quarreling kittens to join up with her sister.

"Don't turn them against one another," Demeter chided. But Bombalurina giggled at the fun.

"Oh, soon, my dear sister, you will be able to graduate from the school of flirting. All we need to do is get you out of your shell." Then she fell silent and smiled. In front of them was the ultimate catch to any queen: The Rum Tum Tugger.

He was surrounded by his tiny entourage. The youngest kitten was clinging onto his leg, the second youngest clinging onto his other leg. He tried to be nonchalant about shaking them off, but Victoria, Jemima, Cassandra, and one of the new kittens, Tantomile, were surrounding him. Demeter momentarily wondered if he was getting any circulation in his legs at all. Demeter looked over to the side to see Tantomile's twin looking annoyed in the corner, not wanting to leave his sister's side.

"Ah, Graduate School level flirting," Bombalurina said. "Watch and learn, Demi. This is better left to the professionals." She licked her paw and fixed the fur on her head before patting down her tail, making sure it looked it's sleekest. Then she did a very sultry walk over to the Tugger. Demeter rolled her eyes as Tugger caught the gaze of her sister. "Well, hello there, stranger," said the red queen.

Little Electra and Etcetera stuck their tongues out at the queen, but she hardly noticed. They clamped on tight to the Tugger, and Tugger lost his composure for only a moment as the kittens dug their claws into him. "Bombalurina," he said, smiling. His left paw tried to shoo the kittens off his leg, as his right was busy resting around Victoria's shoulder. "Don't you look lovely today?"

'Shameless,' Demeter thought. 'He's almost a cat, and he still acts like a kitten. And flirting with my sister while the others are around him! Has he no shame?' The words might have been mimicked from her hours spent with the adult cats, but she certainly didn't like Tugger's flirtation with her sister.

"I just got out of bed, I look so awful," she said, waving her paw in the air. "But thank you for the compliment, Tugger." The last word flowed from her lips with a musical connotation to it. "And you're looking lovely, yourself."

"I know," he said, as the females all swooned over him.

"Ugh!" Demeter said out loud. This wasn't flirting; it was a symbiotic relationship. She walked over to her sister, and all the queens looked over to her in shock. "Come on, let's go, Bombie."

"Oh, looks like someone else wants to have some of the Tugger," the Maine Coon said, releasing his arm from around Victoria and scratching the chin of a caught off guard Demeter. "I was wondering when you would come around." Demeter looked very unimpressed. But before anything else could be said, all the female cats scattered as Bombalurina shoved Tugger forcefully against the surface of the oven he was standing next to.

"Don't you ever come within three feet of my sister with a sexy swagger, you got that Tugger? I'll scratch your eyes out if you do!" The shocked Tugger looked at the red queen who had somehow tapped into an otherwise unseen force meant to punish those who would bother her sister. Perhaps it's the untapped power of beauty and jealousy combined. (It should be studied…)

"Whoa, Bomba, kitten, you misunderstood!" The other kittens smiled to one another as Bombalurina would probably be one of Tugger's least favorite after this. "I was just trying to make her smile."

"Oh, and you're the only one who can make her smile?" Bombalurina asked. "You're the cure-all for everything that makes a kitten sad? You think you're that hot?" Bombalurina looked over to her sister with her face contorted in rage. Demeter backed away slowly. As Bombalurina turned her assault back onto Tugger, Demeter thought it best to get out of the area. So as she turned to slink away, she heard, "You are so full of it, Tugger! I don't think I've ever seen cat with such a stupid fur-do in my life! I mean, what the heck is that you've got going on in the top of your head, anyway! A cinnamon roll?"

Her sister's words faded out of ear shot after that. But as Demeter walked some more, she suddenly realized how alone she was. It had been a while since she separated herself from her sister, and not been with some other cat. Panic started to creep up her spine. The simple act of walking from one location to another had become nerve wracking. She looked around at every single creak or noise she heard. Then she stopped dead. There was something chewing flesh nearby. What could be making such a horrible sound?

Her breathing increased as she thought she would hyperventilate. Then when she heard what she thought was the sound of teeth crunching into bone, she jumped up and screamed, causing said horrible creature to gasp and cough, apparently chocking on whatever it was eating.

"AHH!" she screamed and raced over to an old night stand and hid under it. The perpetrator came out of his hiding place, gasping for air. Demeter peered out cautiously, then breathed a sigh of relief. "MUNKUSTRAP!" she cried. The silver tabby looked up, his eyes slightly glazed over from his near death experience. "Why did you scare me like that!" Demeter stormed out from her hiding place.

"Me!" He asked incredulously. He took a moment to catch his breath. He coughed a little, and then continued on with a raspy voice. (Chocking on fish bones does that to you…) "You're the one who screamed! I was eating, Demeter! I could have chocked!"

"I heard something scary!" she defended. "I didn't know you were it!" Munkustrap gave her a look of 'oh, come on,' then grabbed her paw and took her over to where he was laying earlier. He pointed to the fish remains.

"I didn't know you were so scared of aquatic creatures," he said with some annoyance.

"The SOUNDS were scary," Demeter protested. "I haven't been in this part of the yard alone before. I just…" She looked down to the ground, sighing. "I'm sorry I nearly killed you, Munkustrap." (Now there's something you don't expect a kitten to say.)

Munkustrap tried to calm himself down as the nervous little queen wringed her paws. After a few moments, he coughed slightly, and then sighed out his frustrations. "Are you okay now?" he asked her. She nodded slightly, but he noticed she was trembling. He couldn't have scared her that much…Maybe she was worried about him now? "I'm not mad, Demeter," he said. The younger kitten looked up at him and shook her head.

"It's not that. I know you can't get mad," she said. Munkustrap's shoulders sunk down slightly as his eye twitched. "I just…it's been a while." But before she could continue on her thoughts, she noticed something. "Munkustrap! You've been having a bad day!" The other cat looked at her in confusion. She pointed at his scratches.

"Oh, that. Macavity wanted my fish." There was a moment of silence.

"Can't he find his own?" Demeter asked.

"OF COURSE he can find his own," Munkustrap threw up his paws in frustration. "But I can't imagine the fun in that for him. He wouldn't have to fight me if he found it on his own. He wouldn't have to make the kittens cry to find it on his own. He certainly wouldn't need to pop a balloon in front of Etcetera to find it on his own. (She cried for days about that one…she named it Tugger.) He definitely wouldn't need to knock Mistoffelees off the narrowest rail to find it on his own." The kitten was flying off into a tangent…

"Munkustrap? You're not making sense." The silver kitten looked at the queen next to him and sighed. "Macavity's never done anything bad to me," she said, slightly dumbfounded. (Memory is, of course, a fickle thing.)

"Really?" Munkustrap asked, surprised. Demeter nodded her confirmation. "Good," he said, relaxing a bit. When the kitten looked at him, he quickly added, "I mean, for your sake!"

Little Demeter shrugged. "I didn't think he was that bad…"

Then a red queen came around the corner, looking slightly frazzled. "Well, he is!" she said. "Why did you leave? You could have helped me when the kittens started wrestling with me."

"They were wrestling with you?" Demeter asked. "Why?"

"Oh, I think it had something to do with me slapping Tugger," Bombalurina put her paws on her hips. "As if he didn't deserve it…flirting with my sister!"

Munkustrap smiled slightly. "You slapped Tugger?"

"Trust me, he's earned it," she said coldly. "Now what's all this about Macavity? Was he bothering you? If I have to get in a fight with him, I will." Her adrenaline was still pumping furiously.

"Don't!" Munkustrap said quickly. "It hurts. Anyway, he wouldn't hurt Demeter," he said. "He wouldn't attack someone who's always with another cat."

Bombalurina went over to her sister and put an arm around her. "Thanks for keeping her company while I was dealing with Tugger, then." She turned to her sister. "See, he'll protect you if something goes wrong."

"Hey, wait a minute," Munkustrap said.

"Look at his muscles," Bombalurina said, dragging the tom over to them and poking his bicep before the silver tabby pulled away. "Good enough to keep Macavity at bay while you run to me! In fact, if your ever alone and scared, you should call for him right away. He's like the Rumpus Cat, he'll come running."

"I never agreed to this," Munkustrap said, blushing at the unneeded attention and having been volunteered for a job he already does anyway. "Why wouldn't she just call for the Rumpus Cat himself?" He added as an afterthought.

Demeter wasn't sure what to think of this. Calling randomly for a tom to rescue her? Seemed a little embarrassing, really. "Now, we should get going, I still have some things to teach you," Bombalurina said. Munkustrap was looking off, his brows furrowed in thought. Bombalurina then got an idea. She gave Demeter a knowing smile and nodded her head to Munkustrap.

Demeter took a moment to process her sister's body language before her jaw dropped and she shook her head. Bombalurina nodded furiously and nudged her sister forward. "Well, we're off!" Bombalurina said. Munkustrap nodded absentmindedly (probably still wondering how he could magically appear if Demeter were to call for him.) Demeter took the chance to rub up against him gently, and flicked her tail at him. Munkustrap hardly moved as they rounded the corner.

"It didn't work," Demeter pouted, peering around the corner with her sister. "You made me do that for nothing!"

"He's a little slow on the uptake," Bombalurina said, knowledgeable from past experiences. "Wait for it. Five…four…three...two…one…"

Munkustrap looked up suddenly, a look of surprise on his face. Then he craned his neck to look in the direction the two sisters had gone. Demeter and Bombalurina raced off in the opposite direction before falling into a fit of giggles. "That was great!" Bombalurina hugged her sister. "Congratulations! It took me a while to get to that level! The double take! I think you are nearing graduation!" Demeter just blushed and covered her face. Though thoroughly embarrassed the rest of the day by her sister's recant of the events, she hadn't had that much fun in quite a while.

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_**Ultra Special Blah-Blah-Blah **_(props to Natsuki-sensei for that title)

_Krissy4 - As long as you eventually review! Lol, yeah, reading at 6:30 in the morning is not the funnest thing in the world. You scared me with that "you know what doesn't work" line. I was all "NOOOO! oh wait! Lol!" And sorry for no laughter! I know, it sucks to get serious sometimes. Thank you again for reviewing!_

_Satin-n-Crimson - You're story was great, what can I say! takes the offered tissue I was even thinking about it in school, oddly enough. Only two sad stories have done that for me so far, lol. Anyways, I do try and put alot of forethought in my stories..._

_BUT THIS CHAPTER KILLED ME! It wasn't supposed to be like this AT ALL. This was supposed to be the chapter after. I wrote it, and it just didn't flow, so i rewrote it, and then abandoned one part and wrote something else, but it was too redundant, then I threw that out completely though it would make a good short and wrote a completely different chapter. Then I finally gave up on trying to make the chapter flow now and put it for later, then took the different chapter and merged it with the chapter after this, and that took me all weekend. ...DEATH TO EDITING! Anyways, I've said too much. Thanks to all who reviewed! Now to have some peice of mind while doing physics...  
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	7. Black Sheep

_Sorry it took me a while to update. I've had a very busy week, and SOMEONE (stares at Satin-n-Crimson) jumped me and dressed me up like a Maine Coon. All these kittens came out of nowhere, and ended up beating me up when they realized I wasn't who they thought I was. I think I'm coming down with cat scratch fever ...eep. Anyways, without futher ado..._

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**Chapter 7 - Black Sheep**

Old Deuteronomy sat on the Vicarage wall, watching the children in the church yard play a game of flashlight tag, while their parents were speaking with the priest that crisp autumn night. The big fluffy cat was getting very old, and his visits to his tribe became less and less frequent. Say what you want about animals and their allegiance, but the Jellicle Tribe adored their old leader. Though he could not defend his tribe, he held more wisdom, and therefore, more respect from the young ones than a show of brute force could ever gain. And though he was the epitome of wisdom to the Jellicles, he was humble in admitting that even he still had things he needed to learn.

"Deuteronomy!" Jellylorum yelled breathlessly up to the Jellicle Leader. His head turned to greet the cat who was followed by Jennyanydots and Skimbleshanks. As they caught their breaths, his eyes shifted between the worried looks among them.

"Good evening," he said to them with a gentle smile. "What brings you three so far from your homes tonight? Is something the matter at the junkyard?"

Jennyanydots shook her head. Then she glanced back to her two friends before looking back up to Old Deuteronomy. She took a breath for courage, before saying, "It's your grandson."

Deuteronomy sat up instantly. "Something has happened to one of my grandsons?"

Skimbleshanks quickly waved his hands back and forth to indicate the old cat was on the wrong track. "No, no, they're all fine," he assured him. "In a manner of speaking…"

"It's his behavior we're worried about," Jennyanydots explained as Deuteronomy wearily let his body go back to resting in the spot it had nicely warmed.

"Macavity is out of control," Jellylorum spat out. "He has absolutely no respect for his elders! He hasn't stopped since he first attacked…you know…Grizabella." The name had been a sore spot in the tribe since her departure, but Deuteronomy simply nodded for her to continue. "He's taken to trying to harm poor Asparagus. And he frightened the wits out of Bustober Jones! I have yet to figure out how… He's constantly belittling the kittens: playing mean tricks on them. The youngest ones are terribly frightened of him. Munkustrap is constantly complaining that his things are missing, and though he doesn't say it, I'm sure he and Tugger know who the culprit is. What's more, Macavity's constantly picking fights with the poor dear! He has scratches all over his body!"

"It's worse with Alonzo," Jennyanydots interjected. "You know how he's always been. He's always ready to fight. He keeps coaxing him into fighting. I've seen Macavity convince Alonzo to get into fights with some of the other kittens as well! I've talked to him about it of course, and he's gotten better. But there are still times I see him and Tugger nearly getting into a fight. He loves Tugger! I don't know how Macavity does it…"

"And the twins," Skimbleshanks reminded the two queens.

"The twins!" Jennyanydots didn't seem to know how she forgot about that. "Those two are always disappearing before Macavity comes around. They're very insightful, you know. I get a horrible sense of foreboding if they retreat every time Macavity comes by."

"They haven't even met Macavity," Jellylorum marveled at the afterthought. "They're so new to the tribe. At least, I haven't seen them cross paths."

"And…" Jennyanydots began, but she didn't seem to want to continue with that thought. Skimbleshanks nuzzled her lightly to give her strength. With a deep sigh, she looked up to Deuteronomy with tears in her gentle eyes. "I've seen him…with the mice. It's not like he's hunting them. I'm not sure what it is…It's almost like they are, um…hypnotized? For lack of a better word. He makes them turn against each other. They do things mice would never actually do. It's like he's controlling them somehow. I know…it sounds insane." At this, Jennyanydots bowed her head, unable to speak any further. Skimbleshanks scooted closer to her and put his arm around her, nuzzling his head to hers to calm her down.

Jellylorum looked up at Old Deuteronomy and sighed. "I know he's your grandson," she began, "but something has to be done."

At this information, Old Deuteronomy shook his head lightly and looked off into the distance. After a few moments of quiet thoughts, he said, more to himself than the cats in his presence, "Every family has its black sheep." He then got up gently and climbed down the Vicarage wall with great difficulty. As he finally made his way down, the three went to help his old form. "I will have a talk with him," he said, "and we'll see where we can go from there."

Skimbleshanks muttered softly, "What good will a talk do?" He's had to keep many a kitten in line, but never before had he seen a kitten with such disregard for his elders as Macavity. Old Deuteronomy simply nodded to him as they began to walk to the junkyard.

"After I talk with Macavity, I will come to you and seek your opinion. It will give a chance for Admetus to see how things are done in our tribe. He ought to bring a good perspective to the situation." The older cats followed Old Deuteronomy in his slow amble to the junkyard. Hopefully, their problem would soon be resolved…

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After taking his place in his den, Deuteronomy asked his trusted friends to find Macavity and tell him of the meeting. It took a while for the cats to find Macavity, let alone convince him to come to see his grandfather, but eventually he arrived in Deuteronomy's warm den and sat down as far as he could from the old cat without being too disrespectful. The ginger cat would only be _mostly_ obedient to Deuteronomy. He had yet to cross that line of insolence... 

The gentle cat looked down on the rebellious kitten with some thought. Macavity shifted slightly, looking towards the exit, before looking back up at Old Deuteronomy, frowning. "Why was I called here?" he asked gruffly, obviously wanting to leave. Though Macavity surely had other things he would have loved to do right now, he knew he had to wait to be dismissed. (Damn rules…)

"Macavity," the aging cat began, "You are a remarkably smart kitten. For that reason alone, I would imagine you could come to achieve great things." Macavity nodded, but Old Deuteronomy could tell he was mostly pretending to listen.

"But I'm afraid that you're using this knowledge for cruel pranks and harmful games. You're incredibly smart and exceedingly strong, not unlike my father. I have to admit, I was never either of those. But I had something else that made me Jellicle Leader today: Compassion and understanding."

Macavity snorted. "How can someone be so smart and not understanding?" he challenged.

"That is a question I have pondered at times about the very kitten in front of me." Macavity frowned. (Most likely he took more offense to being called a kitten rather than being told he didn't understand.) "Knowledge means nothing if you do not use it correctly. Instead of thinking of ways to hurt and humiliate the others around you, you could be using it to find ways to help them and ease their pain."

Macavity had a bored look on his face. Old Deuteronomy sighed, knowing that it may have already been hopeless. The ginger kitten wasn't like his brothers, who had compassion for other cats, or living beings for that matter. He had a thirst for knowledge, rather, which evolved into something more. "Ever since you were very young, you have had a desire for respect and power among your fellow kittens. The question is whether or not you can turn it into a desire to help others."

Macavity chocked back a laugh but couldn't hide rolling his eyes at the thought. But for once, the ginger kitten was taken aback by the sudden force he felt when his grandfather stood up sharply and looked sternly down at him. "I know," began Old Deuteronomy, his voice level, "That you weren't given the right teaching when you were younger. I neglected to teach you the vital points of a compassionate life. I didn't realize the need. That was my mistake. But if I can't see you change, then I will be forced to banish you from the Jellicle Tribe."

And for once, a cat had put fear into the kitten's eyes. Macavity quickly composed himself and said with a slightly angry tone, "Why would my own _grandfather_ do such a thing?"

"You may be my grandson," the old cat said, "But I am the leader of this tribe, and every last kitten and cat in this tribe is my child. And I will not allow you to continue hurting them." Old Deuteronomy sat back down, as the kitten wished the old cat was having a heart attack and about to die. "I will give you a warning. If you cause any more damage, you will no longer be accepted as part of this tribe. Your hypnosis, as well, must never be used on any member of the tribe, or living creature for that matter."

"My hypnosis?" Macavity asked, but the look of a kitten with his paw caught in the cat treat jar gave away his vain attempt to feign ignorance.

"You are a very powerful cat, Macavity," Deuteronomy reiterated. "But there are stronger things in life." However, he knew Macavity wouldn't understand that. Instead, the frustrated kitten hissed at his grandfather, growled lightly, before grudgingly bowing his head to their stand-off, and leaving.

As soon as Macavity was out of sight, the other adult cats came into Old Deuteronomy's den. Quietly, the aging cat looked over to the others, a stern look a remnant of his talk with his grandson. "Be sure to keep an eye on him," he said to them. "If he does anything more that is harmful to _any_ living being, he will be exiled from the tribe."

Some of the cats looked shocked to hear these words from Old Deuteronomy. The new cat, Admetus, looked between the confused faces, then to the leader who seemed so gentle when he first met him. Jellylorum, however, frowned slightly. "Why would that be punishment for him? He'll just keep doing what he's doing, if not with the tribe."

"Because," Old Deuteronomy sighed, thinking back to his daughter. "He fears what hardships lay ahead of him in the unforgiving world of man."

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_Ultra Special Blah Blah Blah 2: _

_Looks back at her chapter_ _I had to combine two chapters here to make it, after my befuddlement with my last chapter. But I'm excited at the next one, cause I thought it up today and thought I'd squeeze it into the events...Anways..._

_ Satin-n-Crimson: Heh, I'm glad you like the slight fluff. You might miss it, though... whistles innocently  
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_Krissy 4: You're so very kind ! Mew, that makes me happy. Now, while I can wonder why you review so early, I assume it's a better start off to the day if you wake up looking forward to at least one thing! And not about midterms and what-not like me lately. So I encourage you to keep reading early, lol. If it puts you in a good mood for the day!_

_Now, I have to write my next chapter before the weekend so I won't get bogged down by my up and coming midterms and leave on a serious note, so...yeah, gunna do that now. It's 9:08 at night...hehe  
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	8. Adjustment Period

_Now, before I begin, let me just reiterate the fact tht I've had a long week. So when I wrote this, i think it is safe to say I was on the brink of insanity. Yeah, that sounds right. So it's very all over the place, and did relieve my stress, so I'm glad. But just a warning, remember my mental state when I wrote this! Ok, now you may read!_**  
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**Chapter 8 – adjusting**

Macavity had to do a lot of adjusting if he wanted to stay in the Jellicle Tribe. That morning, as he woke up (and yes Macavity _does_ sleep) he stretched and instantly began making plans of what horrible things he could do that day. But before he left his little den, he had to stop himself. He HAD to be _nice_ today. He couldn't be kicked out.

The little rebel walked out of his den and went to the highest part of the junkyard, where he often liked to view all the kittens about their day, and have a heads-up on who would be alone for a humiliation or torture. He scanned the yard and looked at all he had to deal with if he wanted to continue living there.

The Junkyard, which he had often numbly acknowledged in his prior days, was brimming with life this particularly sunny day. Birds were flying overhead, singing sweetly as they played their acrobatic games with one another. Some of the younger kittens were dancing around with ribbons flailing about behind them. There was a game of peek-a-boo between the white and black tuxedoed cat (whose name he really didn't care about) going on with a kitten he thought looked vaguely like the red queen. What was the red queens' name again? Oh yeah, Bombalurina. But the other kitten…let's see, he pushed her over a few times, he's sure…Named after a syrup of some sort...

His silver-coated brother was playing a game of chase with some of the younger toms. The idiotic Maine Coon someone once had the gall to call "Macavity's brother" was being used as a maypole by the kittens who earlier were dancing with ribbons. They seemed to burst into the most jovial song one could ever wish to never hear…

"I'm in hell…" he muttered to himself.

Taking each step with a grimace, he did everything his life had taught him not to do. He walked up…_to the other kittens_! (DUN-Dun-dun!)

As he slowly walked over, the kittens all saw him and scattered. Munkustrap noticed the kittens fleeing and raced up (like a stupid idiot) to the aid of the other (idiotic) kittens that existed in the junkyard. Macavity sat down right there, as Munkustrap stood poised and ready to fight.

Macavity opened his mouth to say something, but for some reason was having great difficulty letting it out. Munkustrap stared at him in puzzlement. Macavity seemed to be making a sound, but it wasn't yet coherent. Finally, he said what he had so much trouble trying to say. "Hi…"

Munkustrap practically fell over from the suddenness of this. "Hi?" he asked his rebellious brother. "And…what? _'I'm here to steal a kitten away'_?"

"No," Macavity said, his left eye twitching slightly. "I just mean…Hi." At this, some of the kittens came out of their hiding places, utterly baffled.

Munkustrap glanced over to his other brother, Tugger, who was still wrapped in ribbons. Tugger shrugged. Munkustrap looked back at his evil brother. "Just tell me what you're going to do, and save us the trouble."

"I MEAN!" Macavity roared before containing himself. Jellylorum popped her head out of the kitten room, as some kittens ran over to her for safety. Macavity took a breath. "I just mean 'hi'…._you nitwit_." Before he would give into his convulsive desire to do something bad, (like shooting down and eating said birds, tearing up ribbons, knocking over Mistoffelees, scaring Jemima, attacking Munkustrap, violently chasing the tom kittens, and tying up Tugger himself then throwing him into a river), he jerkily walked off with a look on his face as though he were about to throw up.

Munkustrap looked back to the rest of the kittens. Everyone just stood, confused. After a moment of two, Tugger finally freed himself from the ribbons confining him and demanded, "What the _hell_ was THAT?"

But Jellylorum smirked slightly. 'Well, even if he doesn't change for the better…_that_ was VERY entertaining."

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After a few days of these "Hi" fiascos, Macavity adopted a tried and true method to get out some frustration. He methodically began to throw things in his own private den and screaming into pillows before biting his teeth into them and tearing them apart violently. _This wasn't working!_ What he needed was something different... He was a smart cat, why was he giving up his brains for "_kindness_"? (Not that what he was aiming for was kindness…) It had been _days_ since he knocked over a cat! He was about to die, he knew it!

Like a cat possessed, Macavity suddenly bolted out of his den, taking to running at full speed around the narrow walkways of the junkyard. But even though he was running at top speeds, he still couldn't expend that extra energy! He needed to do something bad. Or, as he had previously (and melodramatically) decided, he would die from the stress.

Then suddenly an idea struck him….

He raced off to Jennyanydots' little den. Inside there was make-shift refrigerator the cats had managed to get to work. (Hey, if they can light up a junkyard, they can have a refrigerator.)

When he opened it up, all he could find was a quart of milk... It was as big as he was! But using his brute strength (and maybe something more), he managed to pick it up, and snuck back out before anyone could see him. He then ran over to the outside of the junkyard, and with some difficulty (and some relief), dumped it down the drain. While he would have LOVED to set it up to dump on the _kittens_, that action screamed 'Macavity'. They would know it was him in seconds. Sighing a minuscule breath of relief at having spoiled the kitten's mid-day snack, he ran back into the junkyard.

"OOF!" That's when he managed to crash right into one very nervous queen. What was her name again? Oh, right, Demeter. She was…someone's sister. He never got a chance to really bug her, though he would have loved to. She was a walking "Kick Me" sign. Oh, the torment he could have done to her if she weren't constantly surrounded!

The young queen kitten looked up in annoyance, which quickly turned into horror. She then raced over to the oven and tried to hide in there, though he thought that was stupid of her. Nothing hid her from his grasp and the only protection she gained was from the shadow. What, was she frightened of getting skin cancer? Macavity may have been a bright ginger color, and even turning red in some places (which must have been turning that color from _sheer will_ alone), but he was hardly as bright as the sun! Okay, now his thought process was getting off track…

"Hi," he grunted. (He had become quite skilled at the non-enthusiastic greeting.) The kitten seemed to be trying to think of something to say (more like scream.)

"Mu—Munk—Mu-mu-mu…" But her breath escaped her in fear.

"Why are you scared of me?" he asked with some annoyance. "I never bother _you_." He said, rolling his eyes. (Not that he didn't try…)

Then an idea hit him. Years of planning things to do against this kitten and having it foiled by having another kitten around just might have been his save-all… Then, with great difficulty, he said, "I would…never hurt….a sweet thing…like you." His left eye twitched again...violently.

Demeter took a second to consider this before crawling out of her hiding place. "Wh…what were you doing?" she asked after catching her breath.

"I was just…" he thought about this for a moment. This was a difficult one. What? He was just throwing out some milk the other kittens would find paw-lickingly delicious? A familiar slogan popped in his head the American's seemed to love, asking whether or not one 'had milk', or something to that effect. He cursed his impending banishment at this witty (and extremely unoriginal) line he could have used…

Wait, what was he doing again? Oh, right. "I was just running around, burning off some energy." Yeah, that worked. "We never…" what was that word kittens used? Oh yeah. "Play."

"I know," Demeter nodded. "I usually play with Bombalurina or Munkustrap." His eye twitched again at the sound of that name, and his foot seemed to spasm slightly, but he had enough self control not to react negatively to his brother's name. "They…told me you were bad."

Macavity smiled a disturbing smile that made Demeter look frightened again. While he was happy his reputation preceded him, he couldn't very well relish in the moment, now could he? "No, I just like having a _different_ kind of fun," he admitted. He should be careful, all this…what do they call it? Oh yeah, Socializing…it could be bad for his voice. When was the last time he talked this much? "But I've changed!" he said to her, lifting his paws in a defensive manner in order to pacify her.

"Oh," Demeter said, trying to understand the reasoning behind that. "Well…I guess you can hang out with me for a while…maybe…" Macavity looked confused. Hang out? She must have been using some stupid kitten slang for play or socialization. So much he hadn't learned…and could've lived without.

"I guess."

"What do you do for fun?" Demeter offered, her shoulders up high, revealing her nervousness.

"What?"

"You said you do a _different_ kind of fun. What is it?" Well, he couldn't very well tell her that! This fitting in thing was hard, and his mind, unnecessary… But it did take up a bit of his energy, and made him forget momentarily of his antics. But what could he tell her?

"I…make…things," he managed to get out. He then turned his head as he seemed to question what kind of answer that was. He sounded as stupid as a kitten with that answer! However, Demeter nodded, and looked off.

"Well…come with me, I guess." Demeter was a smart one, and began leading him to where the other kittens could very well hear her screams of horror. Macavity knew this, being a smart kitten himself.

CAT! Cat, not kitten. (The author is trying to avoid a severe cat scratch attack for fumbles like that…)

After a while, Macavity sat down, forgetting he was following another kitten as his mind drifted. He looked off, habitually thinking of what else he could do wrong. "Are you tired?"

"Who said that?" he asked, looking around. He set his mind back _to kitten acknowledging mode _and saw Demeter looking at him, perplexed. "I mean, yeah. Yeah, that's why I sat. Why else would I sit?" He kept from answering his own question.

"Um, maybe I should go," Demeter said nervously. Macavity raised a paw to wave her off. His plan was failing anyways. And that might have been that, were it not for Munkustrap walking in their direction. The little silver tabby looked at Demeter and smiled warmly. He then took a double take to Macavity, before racing up in front of her and standing in that goofy pose that he apparently thought he could beat Macavity with. The ginger…cat…rolled his eyes.

"How much do you think I can hurt someone sitting down?" he smiled arrogantly.

"Did he hurt you Demeter?" Munkustrap asked the confused kitten.

"No, he didn't," Demeter said honestly, rubbing her arm nervously.

"Don't be afraid to tell me if he hurt you!" Munkustrap said, turning to the kitten. Demeter shook her head, her face showing obvious confusion to the silver tabby's pursuit of a charge against his brother.

Macavity, however, smiled to himself. He noticed something else. Something that made Demeter all that more interesting to him.

The young ginger tom got up with an air of victory and circled Munkustrap, who kept his guard in front of Demeter. "I was just 'hanging out' with Demeter. We were having a pretty good time. Does that bother you, _Munkustrap_?" The silver tabby winced at the sound of his name from the ginger kitten.

(OW)

CAT, sorry.

Munkustrap glared at Macavity before addressing Demeter, his eyes never moving. "Is this true, Demeter?"

"Yes, I asked him to hang out," Demeter said. Munkustrap dropped his guard when he spun around to look at Demeter with some shock. Oh, how Macavity would have reveled in fighting Munkustrap right then and there. But he had to admit, this new game was becoming quite fun…

However, before more could be said, or a wicked smile could spread across Macavity's face, Jennyanydots came storming over to the three.

"MACAVITY!" Jennyanydots screamed. "Where is the milk? I know you took it!" It took a lot to get the gumby cat mad, but Macavity knew how to push her buttons.

"I couldn't have taken it!" he said, his hands up in the air with innocence. "I've been with Demeter this whole time." All eyes looked to the very nervous cat.

"Demeter, is this true?" Jennyanydots asked.

"Y…w-well, he's been with me for quite some time, so… I suppose so." The two cats Macavity considered sufficiently annoyed looked at Demeter, shocked. Apparently it wasn't like Demeter to…well, to do any damn thing, as far as Macavity knew. But covering for another kitt—Cat was out of her jurisdiction. Yes, everything was coming together perfectly…

Jennyanydots glared at Macavity before leaving without proof, in a bigger huff than when she came. Munkustrap also glared at Macavity before storming off, not daring to look at Demeter.

"I'll see you tomorrow," Macavity smiled smugly to the timid queen. Annoying his brother _and_ getting away with things because of _dear_ little Demeter? Life just took a very interesting turn…

* * *

_((The author was not hurt in the making of this chapter...what? The bandages? Heh, well...he attacked me after I finished...))_

_Ultra Special Blah Blah Blah 3:_

_Satin-n-Crimson: Yay, chocolate! ((munch munch)) I'm glad you and Krissy liked Old D in this. I was afraid I might portray him out of character. After all, I can hardly relate to an old cat who leads a tribe of cats and is loved by all. Your welcome for review, and thank you for your reviews! Everyone reviewed so quickly on this one (I was shocked)! And, um, yeah, you might miss the fluff. Hehe...eh... ((hides)) In fact, you might want to glare at Macavity like Jenny and Munku...And storm off. Lol.  
_

_Krissy4: Heh, subtle hint dually noted. Refer to Satin's statement on what i thought of my Old D. And Canada doesn't have midterms...blah, I need to move, lol. _

_Enkeli-kitsu: blush um, thank you! blushes some more Best cats fic? Hehe...Now I feel pressure! Lol. By the way, is that really your website? I remember it when I was doing research on the characters. If it is, I have you to thank about making the three brothers! Merci beaucoup!_

_Now, I have a Bio midterm on Monday, and lab practical on wednesday, and physics midterm monday after, which I am completely unprepared for, so...I don't know when I will update in this next week. But the good news is, no test in my primate behavior class! Yay! Please review!_

_P.S., I like to talk too much ((looks up at her author's note)) ..._


	9. Tug of War

**Chapter 9 – Tug of War**

A few days had passed with no major happenings in the Junkyard. Yet, at the same time, it seemed the world had been turned upside-down and set on its opposite axis! Cats might as well have been playing with dogs! It should have been snowing in the Mojave dessert during the terrible blazing heat of day! It seemed that fish were flying and birds swimming. But no…oh no. It was much worse than that…

Macavity was spending time with Demeter…

This particular day started out like normal. Bombalurina was walking around the junkyard, practicing her sexiness. She had been a little rude to Demeter lately in her pursuit for the perfect heart-stopping movement, and while she had yet to discover it, she thought she should spend some time with her dear sister. But she couldn't seem to find her anywhere in the junkyard! She had asked a few of the kittens, including Munkustrap, where she had gone. But when Munkustrap let out a frustrated snort and walked off, Bombalurina panicked slightly. She had never seen Munkustrap act that way before, but she couldn't pin-point exactly what emotion it was…. Racing around the junkyard in a more frantic mode, she suddenly saw a sight that she never dreamed she would see.

Macavity was lazing about in the sun, in broad daylight, as though he wasn't afraid of being caught for something diabolical she's sure he did. A nervous Demeter was nearby, apparently not sure what to make of the situation. Bombalurina raced up and grabbed her sister. (Macavity hardly moved.) "What are you doing with him!" Bombalurina asked, growling slightly to Macavity.

"He just started following me around like he had nothing to do," Demeter told her sister, shrugging. "I didn't want to be rude."

"Well, I'LL be rude for you! Come on!" She clasped tightly onto her sister's hand and stormed off. As soon as they were a safe distance away, Bombalurina turned back to her sister. "I leave you alone for two seconds, and you go off gallivanting with the Kitten of Crime? You're too young to be gallivanting! Especially with him!"

"Ah, he's harmless, Bombalurina," Demeter said, not thoroughly convinced of that herself. "I think he's lonely…"

"Lonely!" Bombalurina asked, her eyes bulging out. "He's not a Pollicle that followed a human home, Demeter! He's a---WAH!" Bombalurina and Demeter jumped five feet in the air when they realized Macavity had somehow placed himself not two feet away from the two startled queens, in the exact same position he was when they left him, still looking half asleep…just sitting there. He hardly looked tired from having to run to catch up with them or anything. Again, Bombalurina took her sister's paw, and stormed off, leaving the sleepy Macavity there. She took a moment to catch her breath. "What was I saying?"

"Something about him being a Pollicle," Demeter reminded her.

"If only," Bombalurina muttered. "He's a bad kitten, Demeter. You shouldn't get tied up with him. He's not a sob story; he's just using you, I bet."

"He does that?" Demeter asked, looking taken aback.

"Yes!"

"When?" a voice asked.

"GAH!" Bombalurina jumped up again. Macavity was there again, not having moved from the position he was curled up in, but certainly the spot he was in. "What the—This is _not_ you're conversation, stay out of it." She then took Demeter's paw and hauled her off at top speed. By the time the red queen stopped, the two nearly collapsed from the long trek they took. When Bombalurina made sure they weren't being followed, she turned back to her sister.

"That was a good question at least," Demeter said. "When has he done that?"

"Huh?" Bombalurina asked, trying to regain her composure. "OH! You mean using kittens. Well…he has been…a bit of a loner…so I guess I haven't really _seen_ him do that. But I wouldn't put it past him one bit, Demeter. You should watch yourself, and--" She topped and looked to the side. "HOW ARE YOU DOING THAT!" (Two guesses at who she was talking to.) But Macavity just lazed there, looking like a house cat sunning on a windowsill, vaguely reminiscent of the Gumby Cat. He was hardly gasping for breath like the other two had been. He actually looked…peaceful…in a chilling sort of way.

"He's sleeping," Demeter said dumbly.

"He's NOT!" Bombalurina took up a nearby piece of wood and was ready to beat the little devil before Demeter grabbed her arm.

"Bombalurina! He hasn't done anything!"

"And we have to KEEP it that way!" But Demeter gave her sister a look. With a frustrated sigh, the red queen took her sister's paw once more, threw aside the piece of wood, and decided to take her to a more OPEN place this time. He wouldn't follow them there…

When they finally got to the kitten play room, Bombalurina sat next to Tugger, who was doing some impressive dance moves he learned in the last Jellicle Ball, and showing them off to the younger kittens. (They were very impressed.) While Bombalurina would have loved to watch as well, she had more pressing concerns.

"No more of this feeling sorry for him…" But as her sister looked up at her, she couldn't hold back her suspicions. "Is this a cry for help, Demi? I wasn't ignoring you on purpose. We just spend a lot of time together! And that _creature_ is certainly not a replacement for me… Wait, IS he a replacement for me? Why can't you hang out with Munkustrap, he's a good replacement for me!"

Demeter was slightly bewildered by these statements, and took a moment to consider what her sister was saying. "What about me?" Tugger asked, having chosen to listen in on their conversation when he realized the red queen kitten wasn't watching.

"This isn't your conversation, Tugger," Bombalurina spat, turning to her sister again. But before she continued, she took a second to ponder over his statement. She turned back to him. "And No. You're almost as bad as Macavity." She turned back to her sister, ignoring the tom as he stumbled and fell. (The other kitten's rushed to his aid, glaring daggers at queen who insulted their idol.) While Bombalurina shook off the glares of death, she put her paws on Demeter's shoulders. "Promise me you won't be around Macavity anymore. He's bad for you."

Demeter seemed slightly relieved to be told to stay away from Macavity. But then the look of realization dawned on her face and she stared back at her sister with the some obstinacy. "Alright! If you promise to stay away from Tugger, that is."

Tugger raised his head at the two queens right in front of him. "Huh!" said the tom.

"Tugger?" Bombalurina asked, shooing the Maine Coon behind her, absentmindedly. "I can't just stop seeing Tugger!" The tom smiled coyly at the queen who was hardly paying attention to him.

"He's bad for you," Demeter said, Tugger looking at her with a look of disgust. "Making you think that all you have going for you is your looks! And then he goes off with the other kittens! He's a jerk, Bomba!"

"Now wait a minute!" Tugger said, wagging his paw at her.

"Well, he may be a jerk," Bombalurina said, to which Tugger shot an icy glare. "But at least he's not MACAVITY! He's not normal, Demeter. Don't you remember when he made you cry when you were a tiny kitten? Has he not made you cry so much you forgot about it? Should I go and _make him make you_ cry so you don't hang around him!" After a few moments of silence, the queen spat out urgently, "Remember when he dumped paint on me! MY COAT WAS RUINED!"

"He's just bored," Demeter said, surprised at herself for defending the ginger kitten. "He hasn't done anything bad lately." Demeter opened her mouth to say something, but quickly went quiet. She couldn't say what she meant to say…that it seemed she was good company for at least someone. That it seemed like she was needed…

"MUNKUSTRAP!" Bombalurina spun around and yelled at the top of her lungs, causing Tugger to cover his ear with his paw, (as she yelled right in his ear.) "Where is that kitten? Oh, Tugger!" She turned around and looked at the Tom as though she just realized he was there. He was pushing Etcetera back (who was tugging on his arm and staring daggers as Bombalurina.) He glared at her with a very scary look. She ignored this, however, and smiled sweetly at him. "Do you think you can get Munkustrap for me? I would much appreciate it!" She batted her eyes sweetly.

Grudgingly, Tugger heaved himself onto his feet, making the kittens fall over, and walked off. "MUNKUSTRAAAAAAAAAP!" he screamed at the top of his lungs as he left. Bombalurina glared back at the kittens that were glaring at her. (Demeter found the spectacle amusing and laughed to herself.)

When Tugger finally came back, (and the stand-off between the red kitten and the small fluff-ball quartet eased slightly,) he dragged a protesting Munkustrap behind him. Munkustrap looked annoyed at his brother, before looking over to Bombalurina and Demeter. He then looked away slightly as Bombalurina got up. Demeter frowned that Munkustrap was avoiding her gaze.

The red kitten grabbed the strong tom on the arm she had once poked him on, and pulled him aside, before giving a warning look to Tugger not to bug her sister. When they were in safe distance from the group of kittens (and one kitten-like cat,) she spun the befuddled Munkustrap around and grabbed his shoulders. "You _have_ to do something about Macavity," Bombalurina ordered. "Get him away from my sister! She thinks he just needs a hug or _something_! She has no past incidents with him, and I KNOW he's up to something…he _has_ to be! _PLEASE_ Munkustrap!"

"Why are you asking me?" he asked, frowning, still upset at having found the two together to begin with. "She doesn't care about me," he muttered before realizing what he had said. "I MEAN, she doesn't care if I…get in the--"

"Yeah, yeah," Bombalurina waved her paw to dismiss his comment. "Look, Munku, you're her best friend! She's always loved you!" When Munkustrap blushed furiously, Bombalurina stopped to make sure of what she was seeing. But he quickly looked down, hiding his face. Bombalurina took a moment before continuing. "She thinks the world of you! Ever since you first met, you protected her. Why would you stop now? And think…it's MACAVITY! You're _arch-enemy_!" Now she was being melodramatic, but it seemed to strike a chord with the kitten. "You don't want our dear Demi to fall in the hands of _HIM_ do you?"

Munkustrap shifted uncomfortably. "She thinks he needs a hug?" He asked finally.

"Set her straight," Bombalurina clapped Munkustrap on the shoulder like a coach to his student. The silver kitten looked in at Demeter, took a breath, and went in. He sat next to the silent queen, who looked away from him. (She was still annoyed with him for ignoring earlier.)

There was quite a long moment of silence. The two looked away from each other with such fervent ferocity; the kittens could hardly breathe in the thickness of their silence. Munkustrap made a move to get up and walk away, but one stern look from Bombalurina (like she was going to deck him) made him sit back down. Finally, he sighed and turned to the precious kitten sitting next to him.

"Want to go play with the tom kittens?" he offered. "I was watching them climb the tire pile earlier. It looked like fun."

Demeter, who seemed to instantly forgive Munkustrap for his earlier transgressions, nodded and smiled. She hadn't been invited to play with him since she can remember! Even if it was with the smelly little tom kittens…

They got up and ready to go, as Munkustrap looked on ahead. He then quite suddenly jumped back and yelled "GYAH!"

Macavity was curled up like he was before, looking half asleep at the entrance of the kitty room. Bombalurina yelped at the sight of the kitten that was right in front of her, as she seemed to miss his entrance. The frazzled queen raced into the kitten room and hid behind Munkustrap, who was frowning at the ginger kitten.

Demeter looked between the two. While neither was in a fighting position, there was definitely a tense air in the room. All the kittens went quiet, before huddling together and whispering enthusiastically between one another. Then, while Munkustrap was busy staring down the "sleeping cat", Etcetera inched forward, looking back nervously at her follow kitten queens. She then, quite dramatically, threw her arms around the ginger cat. "He needs a _HUG_!" While Munkustrap, Tugger, Demeter, and Bombalurina stared in shock, the other three threw themselves to the ginger cat and glomped him as well, all going "awww!" as they did so. There was a tense moment where no one moved. Then…

"….Get…them…_off_…me…" The cat's eyes were still closed, even with the kittens latched on tightly. He obviously wasn't liking it… Munkustrap waved the kittens over, a stern look on his face. The kittens were suddenly scared and not sure if they did something wrong. Demeter held back a giggle…biting her lip when her sister looked in her direction as the kittens hid behind the two older queens.

"I didn't mean you, _Munkustrap_," Macavity said with a hiss in his voice. "I meant her," he said, indicating Demeter.

Demeter looked a little shocked and impressed at the same time. She didn't notice Macavity's smug grin at the look on Munkustrap's face, (that being of pure anger.) "I wouldn't just let you hurt the kittens like I know you wanted, _Macavity_." He made good use of the venomous tone when saying the other's name.

Macavity finally uncurled out of his seemingly peaceful position, stretched nonchalantly, sat in a reclining position, and grinned to the silver kitten in front of him. "Who said I was going to hurt the kittens? Would I have hurt the kittens, Demeter?" He looked over to the queen. Before she could respond, Munkustrap seemed to fly forward and tower over Macavity.

"Leave her out of this," he growled. By this time, Bombalurina had protectively put an arm around Demeter, standing defensively against Macavity.

But Demeter saw it all as a big show. She knew the kitten wasn't going to do anything, even if he wanted to. Munkustrap was right there! He couldn't have gotten away with it.

The young gold queen sighed slightly, falling back into her annoyed state. This time, her sister and her best friend were acting ridiculously overprotective of her. Backing away from her sister's protective gesture, she frowned at the two. "Come on, Demeter. Let's go," Munkustrap said, nodding her over like she was a puppy to follow him. Bombalurina pushed her forward.

"Aw, but she was supposed to spend time with me today," he said with a mock pouty voice. "You don't want her to go back on her word, now do you? Come with me, _Demeter_." He stared at her, trying to get her eyes to look into his.

However, Demeter had enough of this ridiculously over-played tug of war. Rolling her eyes, she turned the other way to leave. "Where are you going?" the three asked at the same time.

"To talk to Jenny," she called behind her. "I haven't talked to her in a long time." With that, she was gone. Bombalurina breathed a sigh of relief that he sister chose not to go with Macavity.

Munkustrap, however, felt a bittersweet twinge. He didn't want her to leave with his evil brother, true, but he really did want to spend time with her. And now that she left in such a huff, he felt he ruined a good chance to just be with her. Munkustrap kicked Macavity in the foot before storming off in the opposite direction.

…Which made Macavity positively elated! He upset his brother just enough, and didn't have to do too much either. Think of what can be done with some more work and forethought? His brother would be absolutely miserable! Much better than stealing his _material_ things, anyway…

* * *

And so this stand-off didn't end there. Demeter continued to be made the center of attention, and realize how much she _hated_ it. She wished that she never wished to be noticed in the first place. But all the while, it seemed Demeter was choosing to be with Macavity more. Somehow, she always found herself walking off with him… And her sister could hardly leave the two alone when she didn't trust him.

Over time, Bombalurina's attitude changed ever so slightly towards the kitten they knew as Macavity. She accepted him more, didn't twinge at the thought of having to spend time with the two. And all the while, as this trio was beginning to become inseparable, no one could figure out why! Not even Demeter herself. She would much rather do the mediocre with Munkustrap than run around getting in trouble because of Macavity. But time and time again, he would simply need to look her in the eye, and was swooped away, her sister behind them. This odd friendship baffled the tribe, and there seemed to be a growing rift between the silver kitten and his would be sweetheart.

* * *

_Ultra Special Blah Blah Blah...I forget what number_

_ Do people know what that's from? Please tell me you do! (I mean the blah blah thing). Anyways..._

_Krissy4 - Snow? what's that? Is it like rain? Or fog? That's all we ever get here in the San Francisco Bay Area... Sometimes we get sun, but that's so odd, we don't know what to do with it. Anyways, I jest. So, touch of midas, huh? touches Macavity and watches him turn gold oops... Heh, I'm glad you liked it! I thought I was going to be chewed out for being so random!_

_Enkeli-kitsu - Your name is interesting...Anyways, I know what that's like when your cat thinks your weird.. I bust out into song when listening to Memory and my cat looks at me, all "Why do you even try?" I'm glad I made you laugh! I don't know how Macavity turned out this way. In fact, I have no idea where my sarcasm and humor came from. I guess since the characters are already established, that makes it easier to be funny with them. But I thought I should have fun with him while I could, as well. And you should be proud of your site! ((I also have the picture of Viccie and Misto as my wallpaper from your site))_

_ Satin-n-Crimson - Of course he's up to no good. He's Macavity! Hehe, anyways. I forgot to say thanks for the reviews on my other stories. I had fun making them, but I need inspiration from my cat for it, lol. _

_Now, one last thought. I have a favor to ask! In much later chapters, I am going to ATTEMPT giving the cat burglars their accents, mainly because I was brought up to appreciate the written accent in text (Damn ethnic studies classes). Anyways, does anyone know where I can get a good idea of how to write the accent? Cause I've already tried it, and I want to know if I over-did it. (Yes, I realize Skimble wasn't given an accent, but I didn't realize that until afterwards. I'll try in my next story for him.) Anyways, thanks for you help, and to my three reviewers...talk about a cult following! cheer gives you a cookie _


	10. From Seedlings to Flowers

**Chapter 10 - From Seedlings to Flowers**

Time was passing, slowly at the time, yet so quickly overall. The kittens were growing, some shooting right out of kitten hood. Old Deuteronomy smiled down at the tribe that had gradually built itself with his gentle guidance. My, how time flies. While some matured sooner than others in personality, some blossomed in beauty. While some grew stronger in muscle, others flourished with grace. Some yearned to stay the same, and some couldn't wait to be "old enough".

The youngest kittens, of course, began to shine through with their individual personalities. The older kittens, which now only really included two, were very much accepted between the two worlds of kitten and cat. Demeter was much loved with both sides (as long as no unwelcome visitors were on her side) and Mistoffelees, who was far more playful in nature than Demeter, was often a light-hearted break from the norms of life.

The other kittens had now reached a pinnacle point in their lives. While they were not kittens any longer, they weren't truly cats yet. Cassandra, the most recent kitten to celebrate reaching the age of cat-hood, was often considered a loner. She had become quite the agile and elegant looking cat that no one would dare disturb from her deep thoughts and ponderings of her name. Yes, she had her friends, but she most often times took to the far-off stare that made others believe she was fiercely hiding the thoughts that would make others wince. She did have a playful side, though, when it came to dancing. How she loved to dance! A fine specimen of a beautiful queen who caught the eyes of a few toms in the tribe (and outside as well.)

Coricopat and Tantomile, only slightly older than Cassandra, often kept to themselves as well, (though Tantomile would at times join the ranks of one of Tugger's many admirers.) While they did keep to themselves, they were hardly hated. Many cats seemed fascinated with their sense of foresight, especially Mistoffelees. He would often be seen roaming around the two (if not playing if not playing with the younger kittens.)

All the while, mention of the Rum Tum Tugger would make most every queen squeal. Far past the point of up and coming cat-hood like the others younger than him had only now reached, he refused to act his slightly advanced age. His immaturity knew no bounds! He liked to get his way, even if it meant rejecting everything unless he found it himself. A curious trait, no doubt, but his disobliging ways did seem to make the kittens squeal, fighting over tossed aside food that he would not touch.

This was of course upsetting to Old Deuteronomy, who needed a new protector for the tribe. He had hoped his eldest grandson would do something to help the tribe as a while, but alas! As he had told numerous cats (with a queen at his side), he was a lover, not a fighter.

There was, of course, Alonzo. He was considered an adoptive son of the old cat, though no one would really put much thought into said matter. He was now considered an adult and constantly by Munkustrap's side when another cat dared hurt any of the Jellicles in the tribe.

But no, Munkustrap, who was slightly younger, and not quite considered an adult yet, was far more right for the job. While he had always shown a protective streak, Old Deuteronomy knew that the task of keeping the Jellicles safe was not simply about having the will to protect. He also needed the heart and knowledge to rise to this position. Old Deuteronomy hardly worried about Munkustrap's qualifications. Ever since he was a kitten, he would comfort those around him, protecting their hearts as well as their physical selves. That's what made him so loved by kitten and cat alike. Even though he would often try and deny that which innately made him the cat he was, he accepted his nature early on and fell into the job. Old Deuteronomy often felt the young cat missed much of his kitten-hood due to this. But Munkustrap coped well with this exchange. The Jellicle leader could remember a few times he would drop whatever he was doing and race to the aid of the two sisters whom he had long ago befriended…

And, Ah yes, Demeter… From the night she lay between her sister and Old Deuteronomy's warm fur, protected by love, he watched her grow into a charming little queen. While she was still a kitten, she seemed to have a wisdom that outgrew her small frame. She understood things at an early age other kittens would not try and cope with. The only other kitten he has seen with so much compassion for her fellow felines was Jemima, who was a far younger kitten than Demeter. Demeter, however, was too shy and reserved, and often too dependant on her sister, to stray far from that which was comfortable for her. She never seemed to want to defend herself, and naturally those who were often made out to be protectors were drawn to her.

And those who wished to hurt her were drawn to her as well.

So, the matter of Macavity once again swam up to the old cat's thoughts.

Macavity, for quite a while after his talk with his grandfather, did nothing to be grounds to expel him. He even tried to be social, much to the dismay of the other kittens. They found him scary, and really didn't want anything to do with him, as _he_ wanted nothing to do with _them_.

But Demeter tried. She did her best not to listen to what the others had to say about the ginger cat, as she assumed he was simply misunderstood. She didn't want to hate or fear without reason. But their relationship was certainly an odd one. They were not friends, but they were not enemies. It was probably the only time Macavity felt any connection to another feline that didn't end in fighting.

While the old cat watched, he saw Bombalurina and Munkustrap sitting near each other, neither of them kittens anymore, and looking to be having a very serious conversation.

* * *

"He's not that bad, Munkustrap," Bombalurina said to her friend. "Just let it be. He's a little rough around the edges, but as long as you don't get on his bad side, he's a little fun to hang around."

"Demeter never did anything bad when she was safe with us," Munkustrap said to the other. "Don't you remember? Now she seems to get into everything, it seems. Like stealing Tugger's belt! I know she didn't like him, but he's very proud of that belt." Munkustrap let out a sigh.

Bombalurina shifted uncomfortably. "Um…Munkustrap? What if I told you it wasn't Demeter doing all those things?"

Munkustrap perked up instantly. "So it WAS Macavity! He was making Demeter take the fall, wasn't she?"

Bombalurina shook her head. "Munkustrap, you should know by now. He wouldn't get caught doing the things _he_ does. He's very good at hiding the trail that leads to him."

"But it MUST have been Macavity," Munkustrap said, looking desperately to the red queen. "Demeter would never stoop to such ridiculous behavior." The red queen seemed to huff at that statement. Then Munkustrap had a sudden epiphany. "Of course…Every time she's been the one caught, she was covering for something _you_ did."

"Well, it's not like I asked her to!" Bombalurina said, blushing. "I was just trying some things Macavity had shown me. It seemed like a little harmless fun. I didn't know she would take the blame for it." Bombalurina shrugged, pouting slightly.

"Why would you do that to your own sister, Bomba?" Munkustrap asked, slightly angered at the red queen. "Let her take the blame for things you've done."

"Look," Bombalurina said softly. "She did that on her own. If she wanted to get in trouble for something she didn't do, then that was her choice. She never got mad at me for it or anything."

"WHY did you do it, Bombalurina," Munkustrap asked, staring sternly at the red queen. "You could have stopped once you saw Demeter was getting in trouble. But you kept on! And now she looks bad."

Bombalurina's eyes shifted between the intense greens eyes of the tom staring at her. "I don't know," she finally said, breaking her gaze. "It's not like Macavity ever felt guilty about anything he had Demeter be his alibi for."

Munkustrap got up and shook his head. "That's different Bomba. And you know it." Munkustrap looked up momentarily to see the tired old eyes of Deuteronomy gazing at the two. Feeling heat flush to his face, he quickly turned and walked away, almost feeling as though the Old Cat had heard it all…

* * *

Old Deutereonomy looked at Bombalurina with some thought. She reminded him of Grizabella at times, but knows that she would never leave her sister. That's why she initially chose to keep a close eye on Macavity. That's why she chose not to trust him. At first. While she deeply loved her sister, she must have felt like she was drowning in her sister's existence, and not finding her own…

As Old Deuteronomy watched all the kittens (and the ones who were nearly cats,) Skimbleshanks and Gus came up to join him in his vigil. After a few moments of silence, the two cats turned to the leader of the tribe.

"The tribe certainly has grown, hasn't it?" Gus commented.

"And we thought it was going to die out," Skimbleshanks noted. Old Deuteronomy smiled at them, all of them looking like proud parents. As Munkustrap was now out of sight, and Bombalurina was slipping off to some unknown location, the older cats seemed to fall into an odd silence. None of them needed to say what was being thought then. It was sad watching them grow…but inspiring as well.

* * *

Bombalurina hung her head low as she went to join Demeter. She wouldn't dare let the other cats see her at her lowest, questioning her judgment, feeling like she had failed. By the time she found Demeter, she was sitting back, a bored look on her face. She was watching Macavity beat the living daylights out of a makeshift punching bag he made out of a couple of thrown out pieces of wood with plenty of rug tied around it. Somehow, with the use of the ropes, he made it look like a cat. This day in particular, he took the eyes of a thrown out teddy bear and put them on the "head" of the cat, and used some yarn he stole from Jennyanydots to make whiskers. Now he was taking delight in trying his best to tear it apart.

Bombalurina made sure she could play the part of nonchalance before she walked over to her sister. When Demeter smiled in relief to see her sister, Bombalurina hugged her. After a tight squeeze and letting go, the gold queen looked at her sister in shock. "What is it?" she asked.

"I just thought you deserved a hug."

"Why, do I look sad?" Demeter asked.

"No…I mean, you're just a great sister, is all." Demeter gave her sister a look, telling her how corny that sounded to her, before giving her sister a half hug and turning back to watch the very…annoying…and…loooong…ritual this cat had begun.

"What's wrong with him today?" Bombalurina asked, leaning against an old tire and smirking at the vigor with which the cat before them was trying to tear apart his own creation.

"I didn't bother to ask," Demeter said in a warning whisper. But Bombalurina smiled.

"What's wrong with you, cat?" the red queen called to the ginger cat. Now that he could officially be called a cat, it seemed he would rather not be called anything else.

"He didn't deserve it," he muttered angrily, tearing particularly into the stuffed cat's face.

"Who didn't deserve what?" Bombalurina called over. The other cat didn't answer. He just continued his rampage on the "cat". "We get it! You're strong! You can cut that out now!"

"Strong?" Macavity asked, whacking the stuffed cat in the face. "I know I'm strong. That should be enough."

Demeter looked to her sister, who shrugged. They rarely had in-depth conversations with the cat they hung out with so much. But at the moment, he seemed on the brink of some sort of insanity…(not that he wasn't always on the brink of something)…and they hardly thought talking it out would do any good.

"Rawr!" Macavity made an impressive roar and jumped onto the stuffed cat before tearing into it with his teeth. Demeter backed away.

"Hey, that's enough," Bombalurina said sharply. "I think its dead!" But the cat continued on his rampage.

"Strong….older…bigger…smarter...what else is there?" The cat finally stopped to look down at the pulverized doll beneath him.

Demeter breathed a sigh of relief as she huddled near her sister. Bombalurina took a moment to relax her shoulders. "A lot of things," Bombalurina said.

Macavity turned to the two as though he just realized they were there. The sisters were used to this indifference. It seemed to simply be his way. "Like?" he asked in an unimpressed voice.

"Um…" Bombalurina looked over to her sister for help, but Demeter wouldn't dare speak up. "I don't know… a theme song?" Macavity and Demeter stared at the red queen.

"A theme song?" Macavity asked, some venom to his words.

"Yeah," Bombalurina said. "I'm sure the Rumpus Cat has his own theme song. Oh, and that cute little S on his chest." Demeter pulled out a Rumpus Cat Kitty Comic Book to show her sister. Bombalurina took a glimpse. "You've got the whole fierce and hairy thing going on already, so that can't be what else you need." By this time, she had stopped trying to figure out what was bothering the cat and just enjoyed comparing him to the make-believe hero. "And I'm sure Pollicles scatter when they simply _smell_ you, let alone you having to give a great leap."

Macavity stared at the two. What had he been hanging around since he was promised exile? "And what would this song sound like?" he asked, looking bored yet somewhat intrigued.

"Well," Bombalurina said. "Demeter and I can sing a sexy song about the cat of crime! That ought to work out pretty good... You have a name for yourself. It could be something like '_he stole the milk…from the kittens…lala…._' Or something." The two cats stared at the red queen. "_IT'S A WORK IN PROGRESS_!"

Macavity would have said something to belittle the queen, but his stare seemed to do that for him, as she shrunk down ever so slightly. He then turned without saying a word, and walked off. And like two little ducklings, the sisters followed.

* * *

_Ultra Special Blah Blah Blah (ok, I give, it's from Fruits Baskets, since no one guessed)_

_Just a quick note, I think I'm passed feeling like school is driving me crazy to the point where school is treating me like a discarded cigarette butt: stomped out and crumpled on the floor! Anyways..._

_Satin-n-Crimson: Gone for a week! What can be more interesting the roaming around huh? Heh, I hope you have fun, and I'm glad you enjoyed Macavity's...uh...hug...(those are words I never thought I'd type.)_

_Krissy4: How funny, right as I went to post this you posted your review. Oh, so THAT'S what snow is! We just get earthquakes once every...what, ten years? Not that that's a small feat... Heh, I was so tired when I was reviewing that chapter, I started cracking up at something I had written myself. I mean, I could just see Macavity curled up all cute, and I started laughing at my own joke...Then I felt kind of pathetic that I found my sense of humor that amusing. It was weird. School has gotten to me._

_ Please review! I enjoy reading reviews...and if it's a bad review...well...I'll deal some how...sniffle  
_


	11. Exile

**Chapter 11 - Exile**

Lately, Munkustrap had been staying around the Jellicle Junkyard more than staying with his human family. The twins had been worked up about something, and he felt it his obligation as the tribe protector to keep an eye on things. But that night, Munkustrap's head seemed to be floating, as he had spent many sleepless nights watching the tribe. It wasn't easy to protect someone, let alone an entire tribe of cats, and he was dead tired. So when his ear caught the sound of two cats caterwauling, in what was surely a fight, his mind quickly convinced itself that it was something outside of the junkyard. And with that, he curled up, closed his eyes, and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Demeter stayed close to her sister's heels as they ran away from the horrible sight. As the black and gold kitten trembled, her sister seemed at a loss for words. After the red queen shook her head, she grabbed her sister's shoulders, and swung Demeter around. Shaking her once to get her to focus on what she had to say, she ordered, "I'll go find Old Deuteronomy. You go find Munkustrap." 

Demeter shook her head. "I don't want to go alone."

"He's in the junkyard," the red queen reminded her. "You'll be fine. Check his den. And hurry." Bombalurina waited as her sister tried to grasp the instructions she was given. Then, she watched the gold queen stumble as she somehow found her footing and raced to find the silver tabby.

Someway, with only instinct guiding her, she raced through the junkyard to where she hoped to find the tabby. Any sound of shifting or settling rubble made her jump, shiver, and run more fervently. Her breath seemed to escape from her lungs with each pounding step. Why did his den seem so far?

Racing up the pile of junk she was somewhat familiar with, Demeter exploded into the den, causing Munkustrap to start, before getting up, dazed, staring at the queen in front of him. After taking in the queen and realizing he truly was awake for all this, the silver cat reached out a paw to her.

With the invitation, the frightened queen grasped onto Munkustrap and buried her face into his fur, her panting turning into barely audible sobs. "Demeter? What is it? What happened?" Demeter just made a squeaky sound as though her voice was trying to forms words and suppress a scream at the same time. She was trembling so much. "What's wrong?" he asked soothingly. But she shook her head, unable to speak at the moment. So the tom gave in to simply comforting the young, frightened kitten.

* * *

Bombalurina raced through the streets she hadn't fully learned yet. But tonight, her subconscious seemed to guide her paws to the Vicarage Wall without fail. Once she realized where she was, she took a moment to marvel at her instincts at a time of panic. Old Deuteronomy was asleep on the wall, the church steeple visible in the background for her vantage point. She opened her mouth to call up to him, but her voice failed her momentarily. She composed herself before trying again. "Old Deuteronomy," she whispered, hardly audible. 

Yet somehow, he heard the young cat, and Old Deuteronomy looked down at the frightened queen. Without a word, the aging cat jumped down from the Vicarage wall, and Bombalurina grabbed his paw and lead him as carefully as she could, as quickly as she could. The junkyard seemed so far away…

* * *

It was morning when Old Deuteronomy arrived there. He assessed the situation, and warned the older cats to keep the kittens away from one particular part of the junkyard. Skimbleshanks went to check out the scene described to them by their leader, who had heard it from two scared and tired sisters. The sight itself proved to be too much for the older cat to see in their Jellicle junkyard. When Jennyanydots came with Jellylorum to see the sight for themselves, Skimbleshanks quickly held out a paw, stopping the two queens in their tracks before shaking his head. "You don't want to see this. Let Deuteronomy take care of it." 

The two queens obeyed the tom, deciding instead to go check on the kittens. Skimbleshanks turned his gaze back to the sight.

A kitten, probably no older than Mistoffelees or Demeter, was lying nearly dead at the entrance of the junkyard. It was definitely the work of a cat. While the old orange and brown cat was sure the two sisters were somewhere safe (and hopefully sleeping after their ordeal,) he knew they would never forget the vision of what took place before them.

Old Deuteronomy was with the kitten. It was a sight he had never hoped to see in his junkyard. It seemed the blood stained the entire tribe. He shook his head, before leaning down to assess the damage. The kitten's breathing seemed so shallow.

When Munkustrap raced up to Skimbleshanks' side, agitated from no sleep and too much adrenaline, he skidded to a stop and silently watched as Old Deuteronomy picked up the nameless kitten. It gave off a soft meow in protest, before Old Deuteronomy carried him outside of the junkyard, then out of sight. "Where is he going?" Munkustrap managed to ask.

"To take him to the vet, I believe," Skimbleshanks said, staring at the spot the kitten had lain before. "It's too much for Jenny to take care of, and she wouldn't know where to begin. That sight would horrify her." Skimbleshanks sighed. "It doesn't look good."

Munkustrap managed to nod his head, still shocked from the sight. He had never seen such a thing in his life. "Who did this?" he asked numbly.

Skimbleshanks looked over to Munkustrap, a grim look on his face. "It was Macavity."

* * *

Somehow, Demeter and Bombalurina ended up in the area where the old tire was, where Old Deuteronomy sat, surrounded by the other adult cats. They couldn't remember getting there, as that had seemed a blur. But Demeter distinctly remembers her friend leading her and her sister to the site. And now that they were there, slightly hidden from the proceedings, Munkustrap had an arm around her, and she realized she was purring. She only stopped when she saw Bombalurina was leaning against the silver tabby as well, and remembered the situation they were in. Then her eyes fell on _him_. 

She looked over the ginger cat she never really knew. The one she had been a fool to befriend. The one she never knew could be so cruel. As Macavity looked up at the Jellicle leader, looking more annoyed to be caught than sorry for what he did, Demeter shivered at the memories and clung tightly to the silver tabby.

Jennyanydots seemed to appear out of nowhere (from Demeter's vantage point against Munkustrap), and placed a paw on gold and black queen's forehead. She then went to check Bombalurina, who had a far off look on her face. "They're still in shock," she heard her mutter to Munkustrap. She then sat down, with the three, as she watched the proceedings.

Deuteronomy's voice came through in a very level tone, much to Demeter's surprise. "Macavity," he began. The cat simply raised an eyebrow to show he had heard him. "Would you like to explain what happened?"

Macavity shrugged. He had a look on his face as though he were trying to find a good answer. He then looked up with a stern expression. "I was trying to protect the tribe."

The other cats started to mutter their disapproval, but the tribe leader raised a paw to stop them. Obediently, they fell silent. "Would you care to explain?"

"Okay," Macavity said, raising his still bloody paws up to aid his explanation. "A cat came into the junkyard. I'd never seen it before, at least, and it didn't seem too friendly." Looking up momentarily to see all the cats staring at him, he twitched his ears and seemed to fluster momentarily. "He was vicious," he assured them. "He tried to attack Demeter and Bombalurina. What did you want me to do, let him hurt them? It's not my fault he couldn't defend himself…" He broke off after that. He seemed to shrink down slightly as the other cats glared at him. He wasn't used to this kind of attention.

Demeter made a move to get up, but Munkustrap absentmindedly pulled her back to where she was. Bombalurina seemed to hiccup. The gold queen moved again, more determined this time, and Munkustrap, brought back to earth, let her go to her sister. Bombalurina gave a start as Demeter touched her arm, but when she saw her sister, put an arm around her, and brought her close in a hug.

"Bombalurina," the old cat asked. Demeter could hear her sisters' heart rate quicken. But Old Deuteronomy spoke with a gentle voice to her. "Can you tell me what happened?"

Now it was Demeter's job to nuzzle her sister for encouragement. Bombalurina took a shaky breath. Staring at the ground in front of her, she managed to speak. "The other cat did attack us, yes. He was really strong. But Macavity…!" Bombalurina went silent as her sight shifted to the cat that glared at her. This time, Munkustrap put a paw on the red queen's shoulder. Bombalurina shifted her eyes to the protective cat beside her, who she only now realized she was leaning against.

"He fought him like a cat possessed," she continued. "Even when the cat turned to run, he wouldn't let him go…" Bombalurina couldn't go on. She let herself sink against the silver tabby. Demeter let out a sob and Jennyanydots took the kitten and hugged her in a motherly fashion.

"We begged him to stop," Demeter said, finally letting tears run down her cheeks. "And Bombie was going to make him stop, but I held her back. I thought he was going to kill her if she went in there. I thought that cat was dead…" Demeter chocked on her words and sobbed some more.

All the older cats looked at each other. Munkustrap looked at the two sisters in pity, before giving a dark look to Macavity. The ginger and red cat was now looking down at his paws.

Finally, Jellylorum spoke up. "He's far too violent for the tribe," she seemed to yell. "He's crossed a line, Deuteronomy. We don't know what he's capable of!"

"I was trying to protect them," Macavity said lowly.

"You went too far," Jennyanydots cried, hugging Demeter too tightly now. The kitten tried to pull away to catch her breath. "You should value the life of others!"

"Munkustrap fights all the time," Macavity stood fast.

At this, Munkustrap growled lowly, but Skimbleshanks spoke for him. "He's only exerted force to drive a menace away. There are limits, and he would not simply take another's life in his hands. _What is wrong with you_?" Skimbleshanks spat out, slamming his paw down on the trunk he was sitting on.

"I am much stronger than he will ever be," Macavity said in an uncharacteristically soft voice.

"Strength?" Admetus asked.

"What about compassion?" Jellylorum boomed. "You've been unpredictable since I can remember! You never quit doing your antics. I think you just became more skilled at not getting caught. _Always amusing yourself in hurting others_!" She then turned to Old Deuteronomy, her voice full of emotion. "He's more powerful than we can ever control. He's probably has powers we don't even understand, if he can get away with so much! No proof! That was the only reason he is still here." Others seemed to nod in agreement.

Demeter was far away as the others yelled their concerns and evidence against the ginger cat. For as they were saying all these things, Macavity seemed to have caught Demeter's gaze, and her thoughts fell silent for a moment. Then quite suddenly, she felt a need to defend the cat that had surely given her nightmares beyond what she could foresee. She felt the need to speak up for him rather than against him. And oh, _how badly she felt_ for speaking against him to begin with! Demeter began to rise up, her mouth open to say something.

"Would you look at me when I'm talking to you?" Jellylorum spat. While the others continued their angry complaints, Old Deuteronomy's eyes shifted from Macavity to Demeter, and the concerned look in Bombalurina's eyes. Munkustrap was looking between the two, confused at Demeter's sudden change in demeanor.

As her mouth opened, it seemed clear what the gold and black kitten need say. '_He was in the right. He was protecting us. He should be the one in charge of protecting the tribe_.' And quite suddenly, a hatred of Munkustrap filled her body.

But that wasn't right. She never hated Munkustrap! He had always been her friend, even when he didn't like who she accompanied herself with. Sure, they had their tiffs and fights now and then, but he was something constant in her life, no matter what. Why was she feeling like this? "Munkustrap," she managed a barely audible whisper, but that was enough to make the silver cat lunge forward. He grabbed Demeter by the shoulders and pulled her out of Macavity's line of sight. He hissed in the ginger cat's direction as he practically dragged the suddenly shocked queen around the corner. Bombalurina quickly followed.

That was enough for Old Deuteronomy. As he stood up, the room fell silent. Bombalurina hugged her sister protectively as Munkustrap stood at attention. Jennyanydots raced up to join Skimbleshanks on the trunk of the car. "What do you have to say for yourself?" the old cat asked.

"I don't see what I did that was so wrong. I didn't kill the damn thing. And I was just protecting the tribe." Macavity seemed to be resisting the need to roll his eyes.

"There is a line between protection and blood lust," Old Deuteronomy explained in an oddly calm voice. There were still stains on his bland and weathered coat from having held the unconscious kitten. Macavity hid his blood stained claws behind him. "You did not let the cat go after he had chosen to run, and instead decided to maul him beyond recognition."

"But now he won't bother us again," Macavity reasoned. The other cats gasped at his disdain for the life he nearly took. The ginger cat seemed annoyed at their reaction, then annoyed with himself for having said what he did.

Old Deuteronomy shook his head wearily. "I feel sorry for you. You know so much and care so little." Macavity sneered at the old cat in front of him. Old Deuteronomy sat back down, an odd sense of déjà vu spreading over him and surely his grandson as well.

"You should leave," Old Deuteronomy said wearily. "Now. You're exiled from this tribe. You are not to contact any members of the Jellicles, and do not attempt to come back."

Macavity, for once, was aghast. He didn't believe what he was hearing. "For what!" he yelled, enraged. "For protecting the family?" The other cats looked down on him with a very satisfied look on their faces. Growling, Macavity turned to storm out of the junkyard. He then stopped to consider his movements. Suddenly, he decided to take the long way out…

He raced over to where Munkustrap had hid the two sisters. Snapping his jaws at them, Demeter and Bombalurina jumped back before Munkustrap grabbed the blood-stained cat's shoulders and forcefully pushed him away from the queens. Macavity then turned on the tribe's protector and went to attack him.

All the other cats jumped to their feet, shocked that Macavity would dare go after Munkustrap in front of their very eyes. "NOO!" Demeter screamed as the memory of the kitten was still fresh in her mind. But the other cats jumped down, and stood at attention. With so much backing behind his brother, Macavity backed down from a fight. Munkustrap hissed and growled lowly at the other, the one he would gladly not have to face anymore.

Macavity composed himself, growling slightly in frustration. He then hissed at the tribe before running away. Munkustrap looked to the two sisters quickly to make sure they were okay, before racing after Macavity. "Alonzo," he called to the cat that had to wait on the outskirts of the proceedings. The other cat, obviously confused as to why Munkustrap was now chasing down Macavity, followed as he was told to. They had to make sure Macavity left the junkyard for good.

Several of the older cats followed to make sure the two protectors would be okay. Old Deuteronomy, however, looked very weary and tired. Demeter nudged Bombalurina and nodded over to the old cat. Nodding to her sister, she joined Demeter as she climbed the tire to sit next to their leader. "Are you okay, Deuteronomy?" Demeter asked. But somehow she felt like a kitten asking if he had a 'boo-boo.

Bombalurina nuzzled the old cat. He smiled wearily to them, patting Demeter on the head. "I'm sorry you had to see what you saw," he told the two. The two queens leaned against the old cat, feeling just as tired as he looked.

When Munkustrap came back, no new scratches visible on his silver physique, Deuteronomy was quite awake, two exhausted queens sleeping against his fluffy coat.

* * *

_Ultra special Blah blah blah:_

_Heh, I was sooo nervous about this chapter when I first got a review that said they loved my Macavity. I was like, "Oh, crap...They're going to hate me for this." I was tempted to call the chapter "The day the laughter died" as a joke. But nah, took away from the severity of it all. Please don't hate me! The story had to go this way! _

_Ice Goddess of Doomy Doom: Love that name, lol. And good, someone else loves Takaya-sensei! Hatori-san wa totemo sekushi desu ne? Kyo or Yuki? Kyo for me, personally. Anyways, wow, when I read your review, I burst out laughing. "Finish it or you die." Morbid much? I wouldn't want this story to go unfinished, anyways. I already have the framework up to chapter 25, and still going...is that too long for a story? Blah, anyways, I can't wait to get to this one part of the story, so see? Not much to worry about! _

_Please review, I worked really hard working up to and doing this chapter! (I kept changing things, and adding things, and tweaking things.) Thankies!_


	12. Butterflies

**Chapter 12 - Butterflies**

Slowly, Demeter's eyes opened and looked to the world. She didn't wake up with a start this time. She didn't have a nightmare about being attacked and unable to defend herself. She didn't have a massive headache from not getting enough sleep the night before. This was good…she was finally beginning to cope! It only took…two weeks, and many appeasements from her sister. Though it was chilling to wake up at times and see red fur pressed up against her when she had just had a dream about that poor kitten and…

No, she wasn't going to think about it again. Getting up and stretching, she looked around the den. Bombalurina was gone. 'Probably gone out to look for Tugger again', Demeter reasoned before poking her head out of her den and blinking her eyes to the afternoon sun. Her sleep schedule had been very off lately.

Demeter walked out, looking around her to make sure she was safe. She particularly took to looking above her. She could distinctly remember many times Macavity would hide out above her den and somehow scare her. It wasn't like he pounced on her, or yelled 'BOO!' No, he was far beyond that. Sometimes, he would build scary looking objects that peer around corners, or set up little gizmos to make sharp noises that would make her jump. Upon reflection, she really couldn't figure out why she had spent so much time with the ginger cat to begin with.

Taking a few more glimpses around, she breathed in deeply before trying to find her sister. Bombalurina promised her that she would walk with her around the area adjacent to the junkyard, since Demeter so rarely had a chance to leave the area anymore. She had been looking forward to it, as it gave her something else to do. It was embarrassing being so frightened all the time…

As the gold and black queen walked down to the kitten area, hoping to find her sister (if not calm herself in the company of others), she heard voices ahead. She hardly paid attention to what they were saying until she made out the distinct murmurs of a name she didn't want to think about. Stopping abruptly, she began to listen to the conversation.

"I still don't get it," Alonzo was telling Mistoffelees, who seemed tired of listening to the other black and white of the tribe. The tuxedoed cat pretended he was licking his paws and grooming his fur while Alonzo leaned back against a particularly large pile of thrown out cereal boxes. "I mean, this is Old Deuteronomy we're talking about. He wouldn't just exile someone from the tribe for nothing. I mean, I know it was Macavity, but what could he have done that was so bad, he would exile his own grandson?" He fell silent, much to Mistoffelees (and the hidden Demeter's) delight.

The queen was tired of listening to others question the banishment of the cat she once roamed around with. She could feel the stinging of the other cats' eyes, as their stares seemed to bore into the back of her head. Some stared at her in pity, some in wonderment. And she could feel each and every one of them wanting to ask her about it. But none of them had, not even when she was alone with them. Perhaps Bombalurina told them not to ask her…but no, it was something more than just her sister protecting her again. She couldn't imagine Bombalurina throwing herself into the line of fire this time. (She seemed more distraught over the incident that Demeter at times, but she hid it much better when they were among the other cats.) Perhaps Old Deuteronomy intervened…

When Demeter decided it was safe to cross the path of the two toms, to get to where the kittens were, Alonzo started up the conversation again. Demeter backed up to her hidden spot again. "Maybe…" he began, causing Mistoffelees to sigh. "He was waiting until Macavity was considered a cat to exile him, rather than do it to a kitten."

"What if he wasn't really exiled," Mistoffelees finally said, throwing up his paws adamantly. "Did it ever cross your mind that maybe he just left?"

"Oh, no," Alonzo said, smirking in a proud sort of way. "I was there when Munkustrap chased him out. I heard a few words here and there from the meeting the cats had with him. He was exiled. I know it."

"Well," Mistoffelees said, seeming to blush slightly from his failed attempt to get Alonzo off the subject. "Then I don't know what happened."

"Maybe it has something to do with Munkustrap," Alonzo said, smiling to himself. "You know, he's always gotten into fights with him." Mistoffelees just shrugged, trying to get back to his grooming. Alonzo sat back, in thought.

Demeter sighed and sat where she was. It seemed she couldn't get away from it no matter how hard she tried (though she hadn't tried too hard to begin with.) She felt stupid for knowing Macavity and trying to convince others he was okay.

Then again…he _was_ trying to protect the tribe, as he did say. Maybe he just didn't know his own strength? Try and try to reason as she did, she kept coming to the same memory that made her shudder.

"Demeter!" The queen looked up in shock, two toms looking down on her. Mistoffelees looked proudly over to Alonzo. "I guess you were right…someone _was_ listening," Alonzo said, slightly annoyed. "How did you do that?"

"Oh, uh," the tuxedoed cat took a moment to think of his response. "I…have a better sense of smell than you?" Alonzo shrugged it off, smiling down at the kitten who took a few deep breaths to clear her anxiety. Mistoffelees politely offered a paw to help her up, to which the kitten shyly took it and stood up.

"So, Demeter," Alonzo smiled. Demeter stiffened, fearing he was going to ask her about Macavity. "I haven't seen you around lately. You look…good," he said. The queen slumped down slightly. Cat calls…

"Um, thank you," she said, looking over to Mistoffelees for help, but he shrugged his shoulders. Sure, the two were kittens, but Alonzo seemed to be acting the youngest of them all, smiling slyly to the black and gold queen.

Demeter made to leave, Mistoffelees politely moving out of her way, but Alonzo, (suddenly panicked at his charm going to waste), reached out and grabbed onto the first thing he could get a hold of: her tail. Demeter stiffened, and spun around to see a blushing Alonzo. He quickly let go and put a paw behind his head. "Sorry about that!"

"What do you want?" Demeter asked, her temper quickly rising. She was hardly in the mood…

"I just wanted to…spend time with a sexy kitty," he smiled somewhat goofily. Demeter could see Mistoffelees smack his forehead out of the side of her eye.

"Then go find my sister," Demeter said bluntly. "She's the sexy one." Demeter folded her arms and stared at the cat that was quickly losing favor with this kitten. Mistoffelees backed away a little.

"Sure, Bombalurina's sexy," Alonzo said, shrugging. "But you…are quite appealing yourself." Demeter looked over to Mistoffelees again, but he shrugged, apparently more embarrassed from the cat's cheesy pick up lines than the harlequin himself was.

"I have to go," Demeter said, turning around to her exit route. Alonzo made to grab after her, but Mistoffelees stopped him

"No," the tuxedoed cat said. "She's doesn't seem too happy right now. Just leave her alone." Grudgingly, the black and white let the queen go, feeling slightly foolish

* * *

It seemed her small occurrence with Alonzo wasn't the only thing indicating the season. Spring time had come, and it seemed all the kittens were a little anxious to pair off. Of course, there was her sister following Tugger around to hopefully win his attention… But the other kittens seemed to have gotten to an age where cooties no longer existed, and they were quite intrigued by the thought of a tom or queen by their side. However, their childish games hardly ceased.

As Demeter entered the kitten area, it seemed the tiny queens were in the middle of a giggle fest. The tom kittens seemed to be wrestling for attention. Well, at least Tumblebrutus and Pouncival were. Plato was placating himself by poking Etcetera on the tail and running off, before she would turn around and swipe at him in annoyance. Demeter sat and watched the fun and games, hoping to see her sister enter soon.

As she watched, Alonzo and Mistoffelees had entered. Alonzo was definitely trying to get the other queens attention. But for the kittens, his corny pick up lines were working, and he was stealing some attention away from his fellow toms. Demeter watched carefully as Mistoffelees need only smile to get the attention of the kitten queens. But while the other toms seemed jealous, they didn't notice what Demeter did. It wasn't a '_fawning at having been smiled at'_ attention he was getting. It was, '_Oh, my friend Mistoffelees is in the room, so I should go talk to him_,' type of attention. But in the end, attention was attention, whether one was showing off, annoying, charming, or giving friendly smiles. That's what seemed to matter as points to the tom.

Of course we all know of the tom that recieves the most praise…

"AHHHHH!" Etcetera had taken to screaming at the top of her lungs whenever Tugger came into the area. She only stopped when Plato poked her roughly in the ribs, causing her to turn and frown at the kitten. But Tugger was very pleased with the outcry of love for him, as even the younger toms were looking to each other as though agreeing that they wanted to take after him.

"Please," Tugger said, laughing slightly. "I know…I'm that good." He smiled up at Demeter, who was eying Tugger. She didn't look away or frown in disgust at his obvious assumption that she was staring at him. The only time she actually realized what he was doing was when he went up to the kitten and sat next to her. "Finally decided to admire the Tugger?"

"Why are you referring to yourself in third person?" Demeter asked. "I was wondering where you were." Tugger smiled at her. "_Because I was looking for Bombie_," she said dryly. Tugger looked at her inquisitively.

"I thought she was with you," he said, looking at the kitten as though she were lying.

"No," Demeter said. "She's with you. She has to be…there's no where else she would rather be!"

"But she's always hanging around you," Tugger said, getting slightly annoyed at her not believing him. "You two are like a two-headed monster." Demeter glared at the tom. "I mean that in the nicest way."

"Well she couldn't very well be with any of the kittens. They're all here!" As Demeter said this, she realized the other kittens had been listening to their entire conversation. (Electra found the _two-headed monster_ comment very amusing.)

"Well, not ALL the kittens are here," Alonzo offered. The two turned their gaze to the tom. "Coricopat and Tantomile are gone, and so is Cassandra. And, well, Munkustrap is probably patrolling. Come to think of it, all the kittens ARE here, technically, since they are cats, kind of…Where did they go?" The harlequin looked up to see that the Maine Coon and the black and gold were no longer in the kitten area.

* * *

"YO! Munkustrap!" Tugger came waltzing up behind the cat who had been walking the perimeter of the junkyard. Demeter followed close behind, hardly with the confident strut displayed by every kitten's favorite tom.

Munkustrap looked from one to the other, seeing each was upset in their own ways. Demeter seemed to look slightly frantic, while Tugger looked positively annoyed. But he himself must have had a face of bewilderment, as he could feel his wide open. "What are you two doing together?" he asked, rather than asking what was wrong. The statement in itself seemed blasphemous.

"Is Bombalurina with you?" Demeter asked. "She only spends time with me and Tugger, and if not me and Tugger, then you. She's not with the other kittens. So if she's not with you, then we don't know where she is!" The words had seemingly flown out of her mouth.

After thinking about this for a moment, the silver tabby smiled warmly to the scared queen. "I'm sure she's fine. She doesn't have to have every moment accounted for, does she?" asked the tom.

Demeter bit her lip. She seemed to want to say something, but kept looking over to the tom beside her nervously. Munkustrap looked up at his brother and nodded his head to the side, indicating the cat to leave the two. But Tugger didn't get the subtle implication. Again, Munkustrap twitched his head to the side, but Tugger stared dumbly. Then the Maine Coon tried imitating the movement, as though that would give him an idea of the meaning. "I mean leave," Munkustrap said.

"What?" Tugger asked. "Why? I came here with Demeter for a reason."

"I need to talk to her. Why don't you know what THIS means?" Munkustrap asked, nodding his head to the side again.

"Do you have a crick in your neck?" Tugger asked.

"I don't think he's ever had someone do that to him before," Demeter explained to the silver tabby.

"Just leave us alone for a moment, I need to talk to Demeter about something that doesn't revolve around you," Munkustrap said. Tugger opened his mouth to say something, but Munkustrap quickly told him more forcefully, "Just this once, GO!" Looking over to Demeter, the Maine Coon ruffled his mane then left.

"What if Macavity got her?" Demeter said once the cat was out of ear shot. "He was so angry when he left. What if he has something to do with her disappearing?" Munkustrap just smiled at her gently. She was panicking far too early.

"She's only been gone for a little while, and we don't know how long. She's a grown queen, Demeter. She has a good sense of direction, and she knows how to handle herself. What's more, I don't sense that cat around here anywhere. But I'll keep a look out for her," he added, seeing the queen fidgeting in her spot, wanting to say something. "She's my friend, Demeter. I won't just let her disappear without a trace."

Feeling slightly placated, the queen nodded to the tom. He smiled at her, before looking around for his brother, who seemed to have disappeared. It wasn't long before he figured out where the other cat went. Screaming Bombalurina's name at the top of his lungs, the Maine Coon was searching by himself for the cat he often times regarded as just another queen on his side.

* * *

It had been days since the red queen had gone missing, and Demeter felt like crying. She would go out during the days, and look for her sister. But she turned up with nothing each time, not even an idea where she went. She sniffed the air trying to find her scent, but still could turn up nothing. And as she walked aimlessly around the junkyard, she didn't realize where she was going. Though she had meant to go meet up with her peers, she found herself instead going to a place she would otherwise wish to forget…

It was here she found out she had been abandoned. Though she could vaguely remember the details, the memory somehow came back to her. Perhaps the circumstances being what they were, or recent events, made her come back to this odd place that seemed so dark and scary to her when she was a kitten. She could vaguely remember Macavity being there…right at the spot she was staring at. She then placed herself on the spot she remembered herself to be. My, the place looked small compared to her memory. Things hardly towered over her, but there was an odd haunting feeling coming over her.

A memory came flooding back to her when she looked up and saw black marks from where something had been thrown against, but faded just as quickly, leaving her less enlightened than she was before. But the same feeling was associated with that memory she couldn't remember: fear. She was so tired of being afraid…it seems it stemmed from farther back than she realized.

"It's not safe here." Startled, the kitten jumped and spun around, finding the twins behind her. After taking a moment to catch her breath and come back from her journey to young kitten-hood, she faced the two with a rather brave face.

"Why isn't it safe here?" she said gruffly, annoyed at having been brought back so abruptly.

"We come by here a lot," the one named Tantomile said.

"Go back to the kittens. You'll be safe there," the one named Coricopat finished.

"That hardly explained anything," Demeter said. In reality, it explained nothing, but the twins seemed to have dubbed it sufficient enough, and with their intimidating presence, Demeter dared not speak up again against them. She turned around and like a good little kitten, walked over to the kitten area.

Feeling less secure and suddenly exhausted, she hardly noticed who was in the kitten area when she went inside. The search for her sister would have to take place after she rested her tiny frame. Sighing to herself, she only vaguely noticed the kittens in the room. Then she looked up, and saw a sight that for some reason made her heart skip a beat.

Munkustrap was lazily watching the kittens play with each other. But as Demeter watched him, she suddenly felt a new energy take over. There seemed to be something wrong with her stomach as it tightened in knots, and her throat was suddenly dry. Why was her heart beating so fast? He may not have been a cat yet, but he most certainly wasn't a kitten anymore. And at that time, he looked much older than she had before noticed. She always knew he was more mature than any of the other kittens, but she never really took care to notice it. Demeter was left to wonder why all the blood seemed to rush to her face at that moment.

The cat looked up, the license on his collar jingling as it swayed back and forth. He smiled warmly to Demeter (who he realized was watching him) before laying his tired head down on his paws again. Suddenly Demeter felt like she was going to scream, and could barely contain herself as her heart beat a mile a minute. She wanted to act like the kittens when Tugger came into the room! What was wrong with her? "Munkustrap!" she said louder than she meant to. When the tired tom looked over to her, his green eyes meeting her blue eyes, she couldn't help but look away.

"Is something wrong?" he asked her, getting up from his spot and walking over to her. The queen felt the urge to take off and run, but she forced herself to stay in place as the tom came closer. Why would she want to run from Munkustrap? That was silly, she's known him all her life! The silver tabby sat next to her, concern on his face. "Did something scare you?"

"No! No…" Obviously something had scared her earlier, but she didn't much like being treated like a kitten that just woke up screaming from a nightmare (though she often was that very kitten.) "It's not that! I just…it's…uh…" Think, Demeter, think!

"You miss Bombalurina?" he asked, trying to catch her gaze as though to placate her. Her body stiffened from both the fact that the cat was sitting so close to her and the realization that she had momentarily forgotten that her beloved sister was missing! How could she? A sister shouldn't forget about her sibling at a time like this…

"She'll be back," the tom continued, putting a paw on his shoulder, apparently misreading her body language. She felt like she needed to be yelled at, not comforted! "I know nothing has happened to her. She's probably enjoying a few days away from the tribe."

"Uh," Demeter couldn't move. She couldn't look at the tom. He was close enough to inhale his scent! What could she do? "Th-thanks Munkustrap!" She got up stiffly, looking forward at the kittens. "I should go! I'm bothering you!" Her eyesight kept straight on Jemima pulling Tumblebrutus' tail.

"No, you're fine," Munkustrap said, yawning slightly. "I actually wouldn't mind if you stayed here a while. I need to watch the kittens, but I'm falling asleep." Demeter felt a sudden sense of elation at being needed by her silver friend. She nodded to him, without looking him in the eyes, and the oblivious tom smiled a thank you to her before going to where he was laying before and quickly falling asleep. (She's sure he wanted to be there if the kittens desperately needed him.)

But why was he so tired? She knows she hadn't seen him a lot these past few days, though much of that might have been due to her looking for her sister. But even when she came back home, Munkustrap was oddly enough not that steadfast presence he usually was…

Suddenly it hit her. He had been going out to search for Bombalurina as well! Of course! Something that would worry Tugger and her so much must be important enough for him to worry about it too, no matter how many times he tried to tell them both everything was okay.

The gold and black queen suddenly felt a mix of emotion that she couldn't quite place, and before she could control herself, she walked over to where the sleeping tom lay. Quickly peeking over to make sure the kittens weren't watching, she nuzzled him ever so gently. The tom twitched an ear, and purred softly, but otherwise did not stir. Demeter felt very warm for the moment, though she wouldn't find out until later what this warm feeling was…

"Hey, kittens," Demeter said softly as Pouncival was just about to jump on Victoria's back. "We need to play quietly. Munkustrap is tired and he needs his sleep. Okay?" The toms looked a little annoyed, but the queens nodded in agreement. Little Jemima took the chance to go up to their steadfast protector and nuzzle him, laying down next to him. He opened his eyes drowsily, before putting an arm around the kitten and falling back asleep. Demeter smiled as the rest of the younger queen kittens followed suit, curling around the tired tabby and resting against his fur.

* * *

Two days later, Bombalurina returned, much to the relief and joy of all the cats, (especially the toms.) She was sporting a brand new collar.

And while Demeter was happy for her sister, she also felt her slipping away…

* * *

_Ultra Special Blah Blah Blah -  
_

_This chapter not only took forever due to writers block, but it's also longer than my seven page limit, (8 pages). MAN it was hard to get back into story mode after those tests in school... But I'm so happy! Five reviews for my last chapter! And I worked hard on that chapter too! ((is content and can die happy))  
By the way, did anyone notice the mistake I made with the Rumpus Cat in chapter 10? I caught it after I posted 11, but decided to leave it there to see if anyone noticed..._

Krissy4:((hands you tylenol)) You're so cute, always being diligent about reviewing! A very nice attribute! You deserve a gift... Um... Well... A pat on the back? Meh-heh... gives you a cookie  
Enkeli-Kitsu: That's a beautiful name then! And about the kitten, heh, funny story...I changed what happened to him last minute and was going to leave it be, but you asking about it gave me an idea...   
_Satin-n-Crimson: It's good to have you back! We all missed you very much! Was that a good wow or a bad wow? Lol!_

_And thanks to Demo and Ice Goddess for reviewing! Please give your critiques and what-not! I await your reviews!_


	13. Between Two Worlds

_A/N : Let me just take a moment to prepare you for the next two chapters...I realized how my mind works when it comes to seeing the cats as either Cat-like humans or Human-like cats, and can convert them in my mind easily from house kitty to sexy Jellicle on Stage...((cough))...Anyways, I know I had trouble switching between the two when I first started reading fan fics, so just be prepared for it. And i apologize to anyone I give a headache to!_

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* * *

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Chapter 13 – Between two worlds**

Bombalurina was sitting on an old tire looking up at the stars. It was a very beautiful night in the junkyard. So why was the most beautiful queen so sad?

The answer was simple: she was worried about her sister. While Demeter had grown into a beautiful cat, the two sisters didn't get to see each other that often. After the red queen came back to the junkyard that one day after those fateful events that brought her to her human family, she was torn between two worlds. Sure, the junkyard was where she grew up, where all her friends were, and where she felt the most comfortable; but her human family gave her nourishment, affection, and a warm place to sleep. While she would often enjoy said things, she found she could hardly do anything at times, worrying about her sister.

Time had passed for them, and the two clung to each other as much as they could. The kitten was no longer considered a kitten, and had reached that fateful age where she was not really considered a cat yet. In fact, there was an obvious division between the kittens and cats now that Demeter (and Mistoffelees) were their age. And with that, Bombalurina felt that she couldn't let her sister reach cathood without the love of a human family. As unconventional as they seem at times, they _can_ keep their cat family member safe. And most importantly, she didn't want what happened to her to happen to her dear little sister…

Pawing at her collar, she looked up at the sky again. Her sister was doing her best to be braver for Bombalurina's sake. But she must have felt so alone.

"Oh, there you are, Bomba." Tugger came over with a smirk on his face. Bombalurina turned and smiled at him, but not her usual sexy smile. She then turned back to her thoughts. But Tugger seemed unfazed by the red queen's silence. He sat next to the cat and gave her a knowing smile. But the queen actually pushed the tom away slightly with her paw, eyes still fixated on the stars.

Tugger seemed upset at the obvious audacity of his sexiest fan's behavior. "What's bothering you?" he asked in an annoyed voice.

"Nothing," she said absentmindedly.

"Obviously _something_, if you're ignoring me."

"That's a little presumptuous of you to think that my world revolves around you," the queen said hotly.

"Well, it hardly revolves around anyone else, does it?" Tugger asked smugly.

"There are quite a few toms in the junkyard, Tugger. And all of them are quite fond of me." At this, the queen stole a glimpse of the tom beside her. He was smiling for some reason. "You don't believe me?"

"I just got a vision of you and Pouncival together as a couple," he said. The queen waved her paw at him to see him off, not wanting to be disturbed any longer. But the tom was hardly wavered. "What's wrong? Seriously, Bombalurina, you don't give me enough credit. You know, Munkustrap talks to me all the time about issues in the junkyard."

"No he doesn't, you conceited fluff-ball!" Rolling her eyes, she turned to the tom. "If you're going to lie, at least make it believable. Munku wouldn't trust you with his hairball, let alone entrust you with the issues of the junkyard!"

Tugger, (happy at having gotten the queen's full attention) tried to look serious. "Go ahead, try me. And I'll have you know that the placement of the mirror in my den was an IMPORTANT junkyard issue!" The queen sighed with exasperation before turning away. But the tom stayed there, obviously too stubborn to get the idea that Bombalurina didn't want to talk with him about anything serious. "I can help you," he said with an odd reassuring tone.

She looked back at the tom she usually considered juvenile. So it was a bit odd to see him looking so serious. Sighing to herself, she thought it couldn't hurt to try and take the oddly colored Maine Coon about her problem. She never really told anyone either way…

"It's my sister," the queen said, testing the waters. She expected to see a mischievous look on his face, but he remained serious. Thinking this wouldn't be so bad, she continued. "Look, when I was gone that while back…it wasn't like I was actively searching for a family."

Still, the tom was quiet and seemed to be listening intently. A little scared of the tom's ability to sit and listen for once about something that wasn't about him, she turned her gaze to the sky and looked up again. "I was walking around the area because I told her I would show her around. I wanted to find a good place to take her so she could take her mind off things. Then…well…I'm not too sure what happened next. All of a sudden I was being carried away and..." She closed her eyes momentarily at the memory. "They locked me in a cage and I had no idea where I was."

She stole a glimpse at Tugger, who seemed slightly surprised by what she was telling him. (It seemed he was listening.) She sighed. "I was there for a while, and the humans were pretty nice. I thought it best to be nice to them…for my safety of course." Tugger had a look that he didn't agree, but Bombalurina ignored that. "And they said they were putting me up for 'adoption'. I was adopted pretty quickly."

"Cause you're beautiful," Tugger stated matter of factly. "Humans love pretty cats."

"Yes," Bombalurina said, turning to him. "That's the only reason they took me in, I think...But they're nice, they really are. But I didn't want to leave my sister. And I don't want her to go through that either, Tugger. She doesn't have any experience with humans; she won't know what to do. I don't know what would happen to her if she goes through what went through! She would freak out!"

Tugger held up a paw to calm down the normally level queen. She realized she had been getting slightly frantic. (Keeping this all in for so long, it seemed to come streaming out of her mouth). She took a moment to take a breath and regain her composure. Slightly embarrassed it had to be Tugger she went slightly insane in front of, she cleared her throat and took a deep breath.

"Did you ever think of trying to get her to join your family?" Tugger asked seriously.

"Of course I did," said the queen, feeling belittled. "My family has been raving about getting another cat as long as I got along with it. I told Demeter about it, but she wants nothing to do with humans. I can't tell her why I want her to come with me…"

"Why not?" Tugger shrugged at the absurdity of it all.

"Think about it," she said, staring down the Maine Coon. "I tell Demeter what's happened to me. She thinks I'm so much stronger than her... If she knows that I was scared, then she will be petrified to even meet a human! She wouldn't want to come live with one. But if she has a collar, like mine, she won't have to go through that."

"But she won't get the collar if she's too afraid to meet your humans, and makes a bad impression because she's too scared," Tugger said. Bombalurina was impressed that he understood.

"Exactly! My humans wouldn't want a frightened cat that won't go near them. She needs to at least tolerate them. And I have to do it soon…they're looking around for new cats. They brought home this one to 'test it out' with me, and I had to be so mean to him! He was _cute_, Tugger. Do you know how hard that was!" The Maine Coon smirked. He seemed to understand.

"Look, what you need is to try her out on a family," Tugger said, getting a playful smile on his face.

"You're owner is insane, Tugger," the queen stated.

"I didn't mean HER," he said, slightly offended at having his intelligence brought down a peg. "And hey, she lets me do what I want…she's not that bad. What you need is a family that won't mind a random cat in their house for maybe a night or two."

"Well, how in the Everlasting Cat's name am I going to find someone like that?" Bombalurina asked. But Tugger seemed to have something in mind.

After telling her his _carefully devised plan_, she smiled brightly at him. "You actually have a good idea or two in that over-combed head of yours, Tugger." The two got up, and Bombalurina brushed against the cat. Tugger smiled, then tickled her chin. The queen, in turn, gave a sweet smile and purred. Then he licked her cheek.

The cat looked up at him in surprise. "You shouldn't have had to be scared," he told her seriously. When the cat smiled up at the oddly considerate Tugger, he smiled sexily back. Maybe he was an arrogant, conceited, self-absorbed, all of the above, but he had his moments. And Bombalurina liked this side of him. (But still wouldn't want to see too much of it…It threw her off too much).

* * *

Demeter watched the kittens play. Mistoffelees was racing about with the toms, playing with them in full kitten mode. Skimbleshanks made sure the little ones were safe in their play area. No one had seen Munkustrap in a while, but Tugger told them all he went to visit the silver cat's house to make sure he was okay, which he was. But for some reason, he wasn't coming back any time soon.

Alonzo was lying on his back and lounging next to Cassandra, who was looking off into the distance. Demeter frowned to herself. Now that she was no longer a kitten, Tugger and Alonzo flirted with her incessantly, and frankly, she didn't like it. She began to feel like they were flirting for the sake of flirting, as they each obviously had their queens they were most interested in. Games were all she was good for, and not even that, as she wouldn't allow it! So with pushing their advances away, she began to feel she really wasn't pretty, not like her sister.

Looking up, she saw said sister coming up to her, smiling. "What's the matter?" Demeter asked, smiling slightly.

"You look bored," the queen said.

"There's nothing for me to do," the not quite cat said. "I don't feel like playing with the kittens, and there's no one to talk to."

"Are you bored without Munkustrap around?" the queen asked.

"What?" Demeter sat bolt upright. "What makes you say that?"

"Because he's your friend…" The red queen said slowly. "And you don't spend too much time with the other cats. And you don't seem interested in the older cats lately."

"Oh…that makes sense." Demeter sighed slightly, trying to calm her fast beating heart.

"So…have you ever been to his house before? Tugger told me it's a nice family there. And that they feed him sometimes."

"No…" Demeter said cautiously. "Why would I go over to another cats' house? They're family would shoo me away."

"Oh, his family is real nice, like Munku himself," Bombalurina assured her. "Think, if they like TUGGER, they have to like any cat, right?"

"I guess so," Demeter reasoned.

"Come with us tonight! My belated birthday gift to you, okay? We'll get out of this stuffy junkyard for a while and go visit Munkustrap at his house. It'll be fun!"

"We?" Demeter asked.

"Tugger and you and me! He knows where Munku lives, after all. It'll be good, you know. You need a little time away from the junkyard, either way." Demeter considered this for a moment, and then nodded. The whole idea seemed good to her! She did miss him after all…_as a friend_. And it's not like she would have to be left alone with him, anyways. (She had dually avoided him when she could, but didn't have the heart to be rude to him when he spoke to her. This odd behavior continued ever since she started getting that butterfly feeling in her stomach.) She deserved a little time with them just being friends again.

Bombalurina hugged her sister before getting up and going back to Tugger. Demeter watched her as Tugger went up to the red queen, who lifted her chin up and smiled at her. For a moment, the thought that the two were up to something came through her mind. Then she let it go…nah, her sister wouldn't do anything to upset her…would she?

* * *

"Where do you three think you're going?" Alonzo let the idea of tribe protector get to his head as he cut the three cats off before they could leave the junkyard.

Tugger sighed. "Just move, Alonzo. We're going to go see Munkustrap."

Alonzo huffed a bit, apparently feeling his territory being pressed upon. "I don't see why you have to go see him. You guys shouldn't be leaving so late anyways! Do you know how dangerous it is out there for you three?"

"Exactly… 'you three'…There's three of us!" Bombalurina said shortly. "We'll be okay."

"But you have no idea what it will feel like if something happened to you," Alonzo said.

"I imagine it would hurt," Bombalurina retorted.

"I meant for me," Alonzo whined. "You have no idea how hard it is to keep after everyone like this!"

"JUST MOVE!" Bombalurina said, ready to clock the cat square across the head. Alonzo, never before realizing how forceful the queen before him was, quickly stepped out of the way. As they passed him, Tugger ruffling his mane at him, Demeter laughed. But Bombalurina was hardly amused. "What's wrong with that cat?"

"He's just getting used to things as a leader," Demeter explained. "He's never had to defend the tribe without Munkustrap here. He's having fun with it." Bombalurina stared at her sister in obvious annoyance. "He'll calm down once he's used to the seriousness of his work," the gold queen assured her. Bombalurina smiled it off and nodded.

Tugger let the two queens down the streets. Bombalurina was sure that he was quite used to being followed by two beautiful queens, but she didn't mind watching him as he did his casual strut down the streets. Taking note of the area to get to said house, she kept looking to her sister. The closer they got to the house, the more nervous the red queen became. Her sister might be very angry with her after tonight. But if it would help them be together again outside of the junkyard, she would do anything…

When they arrived at Munkustrap's family's house, the two queens paused to take in the residence. It was a small house (a one story little abode), compared to her family's house, but seemed…what was the word humans used for something that was small but cute? Ah yes, quaint. But from what Tugger had told them about the family, she wondered how they all fit in there…

Out of the side of her eye, she saw her sister chickening out. She was crouched down and backing away. But Bombalurina quickly put and arm around her sister's shoulder. "Don't worry. We'll go in with you. All you have to do is go in that little kitty door."

"Okay," Demeter said. She was about to take a step into the unknown realm, before stopping and turning to the two. "Are you two going to go in too? I mean, _go in first_…" Bombalurina looked to Tugger, and the look in their eyes must have scared Demeter. She was about to run away! But Bombalurina grabbed her sister's arm, Tugger the other, and with one fluid motion, shoved her through the kitty door.

Tugger pressed against the door, bracing for the queen's attempt at exiting. "Get that lawn gnome!" he cried before grunting at the shove against the door he was holding.

Bombalurina raced over to the smallest lawn gnome and dragged it with great pain to the kitty door, before Tugger somehow managed to shift his weight so that his back was against the door. Using his now free paws, he helped her drag it the rest of the way, and skillfully stuck it against the door so that the flap would no longer open.

"Let me out!" the queen called softly from the other side of the door.

"Don't worry, Demeter," Bombalurina said, trying to not race to her sister's rescue this time. "This is for your own good!" she told herself that more than telling it to her frightened sister. "We'll be back for you in the morning! Just have fun with you friend until then, and we'll be on our way!"

"Bombalurina!" the queen on the other side of the door whispered loudly. "Tugger!" But Bombalurina pulled herself away. It was for her sisters own good…her own good. She raced off with Tugger, until they stopped at a corner, panting slightly from their run.

"Nice work, Bomba," Tugger said with a smile. "I didn't think you had it in you. And that '_have fun with your friend_'comment was classic."

"Huh?" Bombalurina looked up vaguely, still trying to ignore her protective instincts.

"You know…" Tugger said, a mischievous smile on his face. "Demeter? Munk? Friends?" Bombalurina stared blankly. "As in they're one night away from being mates," he further explained. "Don't tell me you haven't noticed."

Bombalurina digested this information for a moment. "You mean…"

"I thought that was another reason you agreed to Munk's house!" he said, slightly taken aback from her obvious obliviousness.

Suddenly, it hit the red queen like lightning. "OH, CATNIP!" Bombalurina dove into a run back to the house, but Tugger was clutching tightly to the queen's tail.

"There's nothing you can do now!" Tugger yelled to the cat. "They're meant to be together anyways! We just gave them a push in the right direction!"

Bombalurina turned around, annoyed at the cat pulling her tail, baring her claws as though ready to strike. "She'll kill me for this! I didn't mean for THAT to happen! Oh, Everlasting Cat, she'll hate me for sure!"

"Look!" Tugger grabbed the queen's shoulder and shook her into a thinking form. "Think about it! Munkustrap and Demeter! What could be better? And you won't have to worry about your sister any more, no matter how things turn out, right? Cause things are _bound_ to turn out well. And then…you and I can focus on a bit of 'friendship' of our own." Bombalurina took a moment to grasp this idea, and then smiled roguishly at the tom in front of her.

Maybe things _will_ turn out for the best…

* * *

_Ultra Special Blah Blah Blah..._

_I was surprised how long this chapter turned out...Just saying is all..._

_Satin-N-Crimson: I thought you would like this chapter! You got so excited when they had their fluffyness earlier. ...You might get scary at the next chapter, and go crazy with fluffiness enzymes...I shall be scared...Lol!  
Enkeli-kitsu: I thought it was more the Super Cat, lol. Lol, don't get over-excited, about the kitten, kitty! I'm still not sure EXACTLY what his roll is, but definitely more important than "Attacked Cat #1" in the credits.  
Demo the Obsessed Jackalope: Voila! I have continued, and soon as you demanded! Hehe. And now I have to work on my next chapter ((Is excited))._

_Thanks to all the reviewers! Anyone else who might kinda sorta be reading and following, don't be shy, review! I dare you!_


	14. Two Families

**Chapter 14 – Munkustrap's Two Families**

It was something interesting when her sister suggested they go to Munkustrap's '_house'_. It was odd walking down the streets with Bombalurina and Tugger just after sunset. It was interesting seeing a human house close up, knowing she would have to go into it. And it was scary considering meeting humans that night…

But it was confusing when her sister and Tugger grabbed her and shoved her into the kitty door. It was horrifying realizing she was in human terrain. It was petrifying realizing her exit had been blocked. And when she found out that her sister had done that all on purpose, _she was mortified_! What in the Everlasting Cat's name was she thinking!

"Tugger!" Demeter whispered loudly. "Bombalurina!" But there was no answer. After making sure that there was no way to get out, the frightened cat dared to look behind her. Crouching down lowly, she shivered at the sight…things she had seen in the junkyard…were actually being USED! A refrigerator was humming lowly in the corner behind a counter. Two couches looked perfectly clean at the other side of the room, and there were no springs poking out of it. Things were not broken. Tables were not torn apart and cast aside. Lamps were not spewing electric wires all over the place. And all in all, while she had no idea what each of these items ACTUALLY did in working theory, they all seemed to be…working.

"Munkustrap?" Demeter tried calling. But her voice came out very slightly. "Munku?" She heard a noise, and looked up hopefully.

Then horror ran through her very veins as she saw a human foot come into the room from out the hallway. "Kitty!" said the tiny human, pointing. After a squeal of delight that sent shivers down Demeter's spine, _it_ came towards her at an alarming rate.

"Oh, Everlasting Cat, am I going to die!" she meowed. Demeter took the chance to race under one of the non-destroyed couches, just out of reach of the inquiring human being. But it followed and bent lowly to try and get at the cat. Demeter hissed, but that was all she could manage at that point, as she was shaking so violently. "Why would my sister do this to me?" she moaned as she curled up in a ball.

"Kitty!"

* * *

Munkustrap sat lazily on the foot of the bed, looking up at the two children. A little boy lay in his bed, reading a book. The older girl was sitting to the side on a chair, looking over the boy's shoulder. "No…try it again." 

The boy threw his head back and moaned quite audibly in annoyance. "Come on Meagan! This is so hard!"

"It's not hard," the girl named Meagan said. "You're just not trying. Come on, you have a week of homework you still have to catch up on. If mum sees you haven't finished your homework yet, she'll not only kill you, she'll kill me. Now, come on. The phrase is very simple…'I am going to go to the library.' Now write it."

"Is it…_Je ne give a damn pas_?" asked the boy with annoyance.

"Oh, come on, Jamie!" Meagan said, pointing at the book in his hand. "It says right there practically! All you have to do is write it."

"This is so stupid! Why do I need to learn French? I'm never going to France anyways."

"You might want to learn it so you can PASS your class," the girl answered. "I bet you Edgar can speak better French than you!"

"He's a cat," the boy said in exasperation, throwing the paper that was lying in the book to the side.

"Oh, yeah? Want to bet?" The two turned to the silver tabby at the foot of the bed. "Edgar? Can you translate the phrase 'I am going to go to the library'?"

Munkustrap cleared his throat softly. "Je vais aller à la bibliothèque," he said, though all they heard was a meow.

"See?" Meagan said.

"What? He just meowed!" Jamie cried.

"No, he very clearly said '_miaou'_, M-I-A-O-U, which is 'meow' in French! You would know that if you studied your French!" Munkustrap smiled at Meagan's creativity, kneading his paws absentmindedly on the blanket he was laying on. "Now, remember, you're using the future tense, and DON'T forget the accents. This is a very simple sentence, Jamie. It gets harder from here on out."

Jamie moaned again while Munkustrap smiled. At least SOMEONE was learning French in this room. "Kitty!" a voice from the living room carried to the room they were in.

"Edgar is in here, Alexie!" Jamie called, before falling into a coughing fit. Meagan sighed and handed him some water to sooth his itchy throat. "Thanks," said the boy when he caught his breath.

"Careful," Munkustrap meowed from where he lay, slightly concerned.

"What did he say this time, Meagan? You know, since you can understand cat language." The boy smirked.

"He said, 'Stop coughing, you twit, and study your French.'"

"Edgar!" the boy looked shocked.

"I didn't say that!" Munkustrap meowed, looking offended. Meagan laughed at the two.

"Kitty!" Alexie said again from somewhere in the house. Munkustrap turned his head to the door. It didn't sound like she was getting any closer to finding the family cat.

The silver tabby got up from the warm blanket and jumped down from the bed. Meagan continued with the study of the apparently elusive French language, "Come on, you have a test next week, and you're going back to school soon. Look! Translations of a descriptive manner… 'La petite chat noir a peur.' What does that mean?"

The silver cat pushed his head through the door that was slightly ajar and went to look for the little girl who was apparently calling him to her.

* * *

"Kitty!" Demeter felt trapped by the human that was staring her down. She was cornered! But she could hardly defend herself against _it_. She was sure Munkustrap would not be very pleased with a fresh wound on his owner's arm. So she hid there, curling up in a corner, hoping to survive the wrath of the unknown human that would dare attack her. 

"I'm right here, Alexie," meowed a very familiar voice. The little human turned around, giving Demeter a view of the silver tabby walking up to the couch where the tiny human was crouched down.

That's when time stopped for a moment as the two stared at each other in shock. "Demeter!" Munkustrap obviously seemed surprised.

"Munkustrap! Help me, this thing is attacking me!" Munkustrap stared in bewilderment at the cat that was in his home. After a moment of assessing the situation, he smiled and laughed to himself, before going up to the little human he called Alexie. Purring softly, he rubbed up against the little human and drew its attention away from Demeter.

"She's not attacking you," Munkustrap said as the little human (that was apparently a little queen) patted the silver tabby roughly before climbing onto the couch Demeter was hiding under. "She was just curious. Uh…what are you doing here anyways?" The gold and black queen could see the tabby was embarrassed to be seen so out of his element.

"Bombalurina and Tugger…they said we were just going to visit. Then they locked me in here!" Munkustrap looked over to the kitty door, then walked over to it and pushed it gently with his paw. After another push (more forceful this time), he realized it didn't budge. He then turned to his unexpected house guest, who had by that point gingerly crawled out from under the couch. She could feel her face blushing brightly at the mere sight of Munkustrap… "I didn't mean to intrude like this," she said bashfully.

"No, you're okay," Munkustrap assured the queen. "It's not your fault." Then he sat up stiffly. "Um…I never really entertain guests at my house. Only Tugger and Alonzo have ever been here." He looked very flustered. (A new look for him…she liked it. It put her at ease.)

"Will you family be mad?" she asked, peeking at the little human queen's foot that hung over her head.

"No, no…they won't be…" Munkustrap trailed off as realization dawned on his face. "OH! We should get you out of here!"

"I thought you said they wouldn't be mad!" she said, racing over to him, and looking around frantically.

"No, they won't. But…they tend to…uh…love cats a little too much." But before he could explain more, the two turned their heads to the sound of footsteps falling in the hallway.

"Edgar? Where did you go?" A human kitten called. Demeter guessed she was a queen as well, from its appearance. She then looked over to Munkustrap, whose eyes were down on the floor.

"Who's Edgar?" Demeter asked. But the look on his face gave it away. "That's your everyday name?" Demeter asked, smiling slightly. That's one thing she could always count against humans…bad names.

"Oh, there you are…Oh!" The human queen bent down to look at Demeter, who raced under the couch again. "You brought a friend, huh?" Munkustrap moved over to the couch and sat in front of it where Demeter had hidden herself. "Which one is it? That fluffy one that always comes on by? No, it was too small for that." Demeter saw the human put its paws around Munkustrap and lift the tribe protector up with incredible ease.

Kneeling down, Demeter was face to face with the human queen. "Aww….she's so cute!" She then sat back and put Munkustrap back down. "Is that your girlfriend, Edgar?" she asked, ruffling his fur. She had never seen him look so embarrassed. The queen kitten then got up and raced to the kitchen. Demeter snuck out slightly from her hiding place, looking a little horrified.

He sheepishly went over to her, but Demeter was too scared to be embarrassed along with him. "I've never seen one so close before!" Demeter exclaimed. "What is she going to do to me? Am I in trouble?"

"No, no," Munkustrap smiled tentatively. "She is grabbing food right now." He then cleared his throat, trying to regain his composure. "She's the oldest of the five children."

"Children?" Demeter asked

"Er…human kittens," he explained. "There are three girls and two boys." Demeter must have looked confused, because he went on to say, "Er, a girl is a little queen and a boy is a little tom." Demeter nodded…she had heard of these things before from the other cats and Bombalurina, but never had any context to put it to.

The human queen…er…girl, came back over and set down food for Demeter. While she certainly WAS hungry, she was wary of this easily offered food. Looking over to Munkustrap, he smiled to reassure the young cat, nodding over to the food. She smiled shyly in return and sniffed the offering. It smelled like nothing she had ever smelled! And then she tasted it! It was like nothing she had ever caught or found in the trash. Not knowing what to think, she tried to accept that no matter what, free food was free food!

Or perhaps nothing comes free…

"Jamie! Katie!" the girl bellowed. "Come over here! Edgar brought a friend!"

"Technically, I didn't bring her," Munkustrap meowed in correction. Then he looked over to Demeter. "Not that I didn't want you to come!" he said quickly. She really didn't think of it in a bad way. It was true; technically she wasn't invited.

The two children who were called came out, one boy and one girl. "Kitty!" Alexie on the couch announced as the two came in. Demeter, whose heart had all but stopped, couldn't eat another bite of food. The children were talking so fast over one another, so that she barely understood what they were saying. Edgar…er…Munkustrap walked out in front of her after seeing her apprehension, shielding her as much as he could from the onslaught of adoring children.

"Aww! They're so cute together," the one apparently named Katie said. "Do you think mom and dad will let us keep her?" She bent down to check out the black and gold queen, holding out a hand to let her sniff it. Demeter backed up under the couch again. The tiny human on top of the couch squealed with delight.

"Of course," said the boy, Jamie, coughing slightly. "How can they deny a member of his family?" (By _his_, they meant Munkustrap, of course).

"What, you think they're related? Married, maybe?" the oldest said, laughing. She bent down to see where Demeter had gone, fishing a hand under the couch to try and get her out. Munkustrap got up on all fours and made a low warning growl. To Demeter, it sounded very forced, as though he had never done it before…or probably not to the children at least. But his warning was hardly headed by the girl, as she flicked Munkustrap's ear. "Don't growl at us because of your girlfriend," she chided.

"Ow," Munkustrap said under his breath. Demeter felt bad that Munkustrap had to take so much stress from his family simply because she was there. So, for his sake, she made a split second decision to be brave for him…and came out to the line of fire. Sitting next to him and nuzzling him lightly, he turned to her in surprise.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

Blushing furiously, he simply said, "yeah…" Now bracing for the sure handling she was about to receive, she tried hard not to look too tense. But luckily, at that moment, a horrible sound came from off in the distance. The oldest got up and sighed.

"Come on, I need help to go check on the baby," she said. The others groaned but got up to help their sister. All the kids left, including the littlest one, going to answer the cry of the baby.

Taking a deep breath, Munkustrap seemed to be trying to calm his nerves. It must be odd having to try and live between two completely different worlds… Demeter nudged him lightly for encouragement. Looking over to the young cat, he smiled and nodded towards the table that was by the kitchen. Taking the cue, Demeter obediently followed the silver tabby.

The two jumped up on the table, sitting near the edge. "I have to apologize for them," he said sheepishly. "They're just kids, and they can be very intrusive at times." He looked off to where the kids had gone in unison. "The oldest one is Meagan. She's about sixteen, and takes care of the others while her parents are at work." Demeter thought this sounded a lot like Munkustrap's role in the tribe, and smiled to herself.

"The second oldest, Jamie, is the reason I've been away," he continued. "He's been really sick for the past two weeks, but he's finally getting better. And then there's Katie, the middle child. She's ten…an animal lover…The reason why I'm here. You met Alexie first...she can be a little rough at times. And the youngest is little Devon, who they're with now. He's turning one in the next moon."

Demeter smiled warmly to the cat she once thought she knew so well. He spoke of this other family of his with such love… "I can't imagine what it would be like having a human family."

Munkustrap chuckled at this. "Oh, they would want to adopt you, I know," he assured her, much to Demeter's chagrin. Again he laughed. "They're not that bad…but then again, I've been with them since I was a kitten, so I guess I'm used to them. You would probably like a family without kids…they can be a handful. But they're my family…and I can't imagine life without them." Munkustrap must have realized how sentimental he was sounding as he stopped and looked down at his paws.

"What about the tribe?" Demeter asked. "Aren't they your family?"

Munkustrap smiled to the young cat and nodded. "I'm lucky. I have two families. Many cats don't really appreciate what it's like being owned by humans…like Tugger. And some aren't lucky to find great humans, or any at all…like Alonzo.

"They love me, and I care for them," he explained. "There is something special about being owned by a family that loves you. They consider me a part of the family, even though I'm nothing like them. It's…hard to explain. Unless you have a chance to really feel it." Demeter realized she was staring at the silver tabby, but she couldn't help it. This was definitely a side of him she never knew. She thought it was sweet…almost made her wish she had what he had.

"You really have your hands full, though," she commented.

"It's not that bad when you feel affection for them," he said, sighing. "And you can really see love," he added, "When they give you as cruel a name as _Edgar_." Demeter laughed at this a little harder than she meant to, causing a dark cloud to hover over the silver tabby. Then he looked up to see the children streaming back into the room.

"Look, they're sitting together!" Katie called gleefully.

"Oh," Demeter meowed to Munkustrap. "That reminds me, what do they mean by married?"

Munkustrap blushed furiously again, before looking shyly back at Demeter. He opened up his mouth to explain it, but it was too much for him to say. When he tried again, his voice seemed a little higher than usual. "It, uh…means that…they think that you're my mate."

"What?" Demeter shot up, shocked. The two then looked away from each other, both equally embarrassed.

"Do you think they'll kiss each other?" asked Jamie before he coughed lightly. Out of the side of her eye, she saw Munkustrap stiffen.

"That would be _so cute_! Come on Edgar, kiss your girlfriend," Katie egged him on.

By this point, Munkustrap had gone beyond a point of blushing (if it is possible to become phosphorescent), while the younger of the two children exclaimed that they wanted to see the cats kiss.

"Cats don't kiss," Munkustrap meowed at the same time that Meagan spoke it in human words.

"What's a kiss?" Demeter asked Munkustrap. The horrified look on the silver tabby's face made Demeter want to know what sort of punishment was intended to them. "It can't be that bad, can it?"

With the children egging them on, Munkustrap took a few seconds to catch his breath. He then nervously leaned close to Demeter and gave her a quick nuzzle. He then touched his nose to hers, before licking her cheek. (Now, it was Demeter's turn to blush furiously.)

"I think," Munkustrap said, his eyes bashfully looking at his feet, "that is what a cat can appropriately call a kiss." Their moment of embarrassment and elation were drowned out by the hoots and hollers of the children who were quite entertained by the whole scene.

* * *

_Ultra Special Blah-Blah-Blah_

_Again, I went over my limit on pages. Okay, now 8 pages is my limit. _

_Demo: _ _Do you mind if I don't spell out your entire name? I know some people are quite proud of their name in entirety. "Oh, catnip!" Yes, use the phrase, spread it around, and when it comes up in a block buster movie in ten years, we'll have done our job of making a new slang phrase! ((smile)) You made me laugh when you said the phrase back to me, lol.  
Ekeli-kitsu: Lol, everyone feels so bad for Demeter's intervention! And yeah, being a cats fan girl does do weird things to you...I think it should be studied. But I'm glad you knew what I was talking about. I thouht I would sound weird.  
Krissy4: Lol, um, I have no idea if that was sarcasm or not on chapter 12's review. Oh, and I had a hat tipped off to me! Yay!  
Satin-n-Crimson: Yes... ((grin)) Where has that ginger cat been lately...huh ((tries to hide her smirk)) Patience, my dear. For all will reveal itself in due course. _


	15. Her Collar

**Chapter 15 - How Demeter Got Her Collar**

It sounded like complete chaos when the children began screaming in the quiet, quaint house. (They were apparently easily excitable). What's more, the love affair taking place right before them seemed ten times more interesting than anything they could watch or read, and it dripped with sweet sugary cuteness. And it was their cat that was living it! It's enough to make anyone jealous when they're cat leads a more interesting life than they do. (And how often that seems to happen…)

The two cats couldn't even look at each other. Their kitten-hood shyness had definitely passed through to their cat-hood selves, and that took over their demeanor for the moment. They only finally lifted their blushing faces when Jamie fell into a coughing fit, causing Meagan to send her brother back to bed (in two different languages to make a point with him.)

Munkustrap glanced sideways to the young cat beside him and smiled gently. "I'll be right back…are you okay by yourself?"

"Huh?" Demeter said, obviously not all there at the moment.

"You'll be fine," Munkustrap smiled, avoiding eye contact before jumping off the table and obediently following Jamie (and a nagging Meagan) to the bedroom. It seemed in the event of the boy coughing so frantically, Demeter was easily forgotten among the other two girls. Thinking it better than staying with the two younger girls, (with whom she would rather not entrust her life to), she followed Munkustrap to the boys' bedroom.

The door was slightly ajar, (probably out of habit to let the silver tabby in and out of the room with ease). Meagan was taking her brother's books away and making sure the boy went into the bed. She then gave him medicine while Munkustrap jumped up on the bed. Jamie took the silver tabby up in his arms and hugged him like a teddy bear. It didn't seem like the cat could breath for a moment until he left out a soft meow (that translated into "I'll die if this keeps up"), and the boy let go. He then meowed a thank you, and the boy rested his head, drifting off to sleep.

Meagan turned off the light before walking to the door. Panicking, Demeter raced down the hall and into the living room where she was quite suddenly scooped up. "Ah!" she meowed. The second oldest girl seemed to be very interested in her fur.

"She's such a pretty color," Katie said. "Imagine if they had kittens, how cute they would be?" Demeter struggled to get out of the grip of the girl, not having time to digest what she had said. (Not that she much liked her possible progeny discussed in such an informal setting.) Reluctantly, the girl let her go into a nice padded little basket. The gold queen curled up in the basket and looked up at the girl, ready to hiss at her. But a pair of green eyes caught her attention. Hesitating for a moment, Demeter smiled sheepishly at the silver tabby coming over to her.

Munkustrap sat by the basket and looked down, blushing. Demeter thought she saw a slight smile on his face. But still, she wondered why… "Why did you do it?" she asked the tom. In her experience, a flirt was simply that, a flirt. There was no special sentiment behind it, and she was hardly as pretty as the other queens (or so she thought). There was no reason for her to be the likely candidate for attention aside from the tom wanting to test out a line on her.

So she very much expected him to pretend he didn't know what she was talking about. But sure enough, he knew. "I wouldn't just do that to please them, if that's what you're wondering," Munkustrap said. Her blue eyes met his green eyes, and for a second were locked in a gaze they could not break, before she forced herself to turn away. Munkustrap smiled teasingly and gave the queen a gentle nudge. "You know, you're in my bed?"

Demeter flushed slightly, jumping out of the bed as though it were going to bite her tail off. Munkustrap laughed at her eagerness to get out of his bed, and the black and gold queen frowned. "Don't laugh at me," she pouted, playfully batting at him. But he backed away. For a moment, Demeter sat back and assessed the cat along with the situation.

"What?" he asked, laying down on the floor in pouncing mode.

"Remember when we were kittens and you never wanted to play with me?" she asked, pretending to be insulted by the memory.

Munkustrap stared for a moment, before getting a far off look on his face as the memories came back. Then he smirked. "You were a ball of energy!" he defended. "And I wasn't. But I wouldn't mind playing now." After thinking about that statement for a moment, he blushed furiously. "Like kittens play, I mean! Innocent playing."

Demeter laughed at his embarrassment. "What kind of games? See who can stay quiet the longest?" Again, Munkustrap had to think about this for a moment before grinning at the memory. "You were mean," Demeter feigned a pout.

"I was not," he said, lifting his head and frowning.

"Yeah, you were," Demeter said, still pouting. "All I wanted to do was spend time with you."

"Really?" Munkustrap asked, his face brightening up. She was slightly astonished that her confession was accepted so happily, and so she simply nodded her response. The silver tabby smiled warmly at her, making the queen feel at ease. It seemed as though everything was just as it should be at that moment.

"WHO WANTS TREATS!" Then she remembered the humans were there. Munkustrap looked up with some annoyance at Katie, who was shaking a bag of kitty treats. Then he looked over to Demeter with a dismayed look on his face.

"Those things taste awful," he said. "But they seem so happy when I eat them." Just as he meowed this to Demeter, the little girl must have thought it was a sign that he wanted a treat. So she opened the bag of artificially flavored cat treats and placed one down for her pet, the other for the house guest. Before bending down to take the treat, Munkustrap shook his head at Demeter, who was about to eat the treat. He then ate the overly processed, sorry-excuse-for-food with a grimace on his face.

"Aww," Katie picked up this cute little kitty and hugged him. (Demeter thought it was too bad he was too cute for the humans to pass up picking him up as they pleased.) "Did my wittle baby wove his tweat?" she asked. Munkustrap played the part by licking his lips twice. With a giggle, the girl put the cat down. She then looked over to Demeter.

The queen gave the girl one of those classic _snooty cat_ looks. She then pawed at the treat lazily as though it were a toy. "I don't think she wants it," Meagan said, watching from the kitchen.

"It will go to waste," Katie pouted. The two girls looked over to Munkustrap. With a crestfallen look on his face, he sighed and walked over to the artificial chicken-smelling treat and ate it for his owner's sake. "I'm so glad he likes these things," Katie said as she gave him two more before walking off.

"Oh, Everlasting Cat," Munkustrap said, staring in bewilderment at the two extra treats on the floor.

"Why do you eat them if they don't taste good?" Demeter asked, trying to hold back a laugh.

"They…uh…" He seemed to have lost his train of thought, staring at the dessert he would inevitably have to guzzle down. Demeter repeated the question, and he drew his attention back to the cat. "Oh, I never really liked any of the treats they gave me, and their father complained about wasting money on them. Katie looked upset she couldn't find a treat I liked." He eyed the two treats with dismay.

"I'll help you eat them if you don't like them!" Demeter said, grinning. "I'm sure they're not that bad."

Munkustrap chuckled at the irony of it all. "Alonzo will eat anything, right?" Demeter nodded. "Meet the one thing he won't eat." Demeter stared at the treat in disgust. But the silver tabby had a job to do. And so, he took a deep breath, went over and ate the two treats, before sitting back on his haunches.

"Are you okay?" Demeter asked, walking over to him. He had a glazed look on his face.

"I think I died for a moment," he said. Demeter laughed and nudged the over-dramatic cat. He smiled to her. She then nudged him with her paw. He nudged back.

Surprised, she batted at his face playfully. He did the same to her.

Challenged, she got up and pushed the sitting cat over on his side. She then pinned him and bit gently on his ear, tugging on it as though pretending to rip it off. Munkustrap feigned defeat on his side, only muttering, "Bah," at his defeat.

Then he lay perfectly still. Demeter smiled and nudged him. But he didn't move. She nudged him again. He didn't move. "Munku?" she asked. She expected him to pop right up, but he didn't. The thought of her having killed a cat right in front of his family flashed through Demeter's head, and she panicked slightly.

She put her face close to his, hoping to see his eyes flutter open. "Munku?" she asked, a little more panicked this time. But his eyes shot open and he licked her on the nose, before getting up and racing off to grab a cat toy that _looked_ brand new. He attacked the toy with full force before rolling on his back and tossing it in the air. Demeter watched, shocked and amused, before rolling on her side and laughing. She had never seen Munkustrap so playful before. And by the excited clamor of the children, she would have to guess that they never did, either.

But before she could do anything, Munkustrap threw the toy aside, and caught sight of his new prey…the one he was staring at right in the eyes. "Erk…" was all Demeter could manage before the cat pummeled right into her, sending to two rolling about.

The next half hour was spent with the two racing about, playing like kittens, jumping in the air, and tackling the other, giving into the inner kitten they both ignored so often.

* * *

"Okay, it's a giant mouse that's attacking the city," the silver tabby told the gold and black queen. They were staring at a bright pink bracelet that lay under one of the couches. Well hidden, the two didn't want to give away their position as they were about to attack their prey.

"A giant pink mouse?" Demeter asked in a hushed voice. "Do they exist?"

"Right now, it does," Munkustrap lowered his voice as Demeter had. "And we have to save the world from this menace..."

"Because we're the only hope?" Demeter asked.

"Nice touch," Munkustrap said, impressed.

"I read it out of a Rumpus Cat Kitty Comic," she informed him. After a grin from the normally serious cat, he looked over to the "pink mouse" and wiggled his shoulders, ready to pounce. Demeter did the same, as she was going to aid her fellow 'defender of the world'.

And like lightening, the two raced after the pink terror, their claws extended. Of course, Munkustrap got to it first, but Demeter tried so hard to beat him to it, she ended up crashing into him and the two ended up in a pile, the pink "_mouse_" stuck to the silver tabby's claw. "Ow," they both said at the same time. Munkustrap rubbed his head where he had apparently hit it. The gold queen smiled warmly and started licking the spot on his head where he was hurt.

For a minute, that was all that existed…the two of them together, her attending to his wounds after a "perilous fight", and him being the one cared for. And Demeter had never felt more content being with her kitten hood friend.

"Come on, I'm tired," Munkustrap said abruptly. He had suddenly turned serious again. Demeter looked at him with confusion, but the cat walked off with his head down, towards his bed.

Demeter wasn't sure what to make of his sudden attitude change, but followed him obediently (as it was his house). The cat curled up and closed his eyes in his little basket, and the gold and black queen naturally assumed she was meant to sleep in his bed. After all, even though his sudden change in demeanor scared her a little, she had no where else to sleep. So she gingerly crawled into the bed and lifted up his arm, curling herself up next to him

"Huh?" he exclaimed. "No, I didn't mean….well….yeah, I meant go to bed, but--"

"Is something wrong?" Demeter looked at the tabby with a determined look in her face. She felt if he could simply turn from playful to icily serious at the drop of a hat, she could be determined about innocently sleeping in the same bed. (Though she had to admit, her heart was racing a mile a minute). But Munkustrap bowed his head and looked away, before laying his head down and saying nothing.

The obvious tension between the two was becoming far too much to take. Even though she was right under his arm, they seemed so very far away from each other, and pushing even farther. Though she wanted to get up and leave, she stayed as long as she could bear the unwanted feeling. But finally, the feeling became too much for her and she made a move to get up to leave him to sleep in peace. But he pulled her back towards him, not letting her get up.

"Munkustrap?" she turned her head to look at him, confused.

"Go to sleep, Demeter," he said, using a tone of voice she didn't recognize. It was gentle, yet stern. There was something in it that told her that she should listen, and shouldn't be afraid. So contemplating this for a moment, she finally tossed out all reason and just assumed he was being a moody tom, laid her head down, and slept.

* * *

Demeter woke up with a sound she wasn't familiar with: a door closing. Katie raced up to two humans who had walked in. "Who put the gnome in front of the door," the new human queen asked her. (What had she heard them called before? Ah, woman.)

"Mum, Edgar brought home a girlfriend today! Can we keep her, please?" Katie seemed very bent on the idea.

"A female? And what are we going to do, have a bunch of kittens running around?" the woman asked her daughter. (Again with the discussion of her progeny…what is it with humans and kittens?)

"Aw, mom, she's so cute!" Katie pointed over to the cat who was staring at them. Demeter looked over to Munkustrap, but he seemed fast asleep. Looking back up, the queen saw the woman sigh to her mate before coming over to the cat. She held out a human paw for the queen to sniff, before patting her on the head. Demeter did her best not to pull away as not to wake Munkustrap.

"We can't keep any cat that just waltzes in here," the woman said to her daughter. "She might have a family. And we can't afford two vet bills. And do you remember what that Maine Coon did to Jamie's goldfish?" Katie groaned and followed the tired woman to the bedroom, saying things like 'she's so cute' and 'Edgar loves her,' hoping they would be reason enough for her to stay.

Munkustrap stirred in his sleep and pulled Demeter closer to him, purring softly. Taking a few deep breaths to calm her nerves, she laid her head down and let sleep take its course once again.

* * *

The next morning, the two cats were up early. Munkustrap couldn't return to the junkyard that day, as he wanted to make sure Jamie was okay. So he went with Demeter to the cat door, the parents of the children watching them. (They were getting ready for work). Munkustrap peeked through the kitty door along with Demeter to make sure Bombalurina was out there. Sure enough she was. "Do you want me to talk to her about pushing cats into other cat's homes?" the Jellicle protector asked, frowning at the red queen who hadn't noticed the two cats staring at her.

"No, I'll deal with her," Demeter assured him. "You can deal with Tugger when you get back."

"And I plan to," he smiled to her, nuzzling her once before letting her leave the house. Demeter sat outside the kitty door and caught her breath, trying to remind herself not to let everything that happened the night before get to her. Then she looked at her sister, who had smiled to her. It was time to deal with more pressing matters…

"Did you have fun?" Bombalurina asked sheepishly. There was hardly any time to react before Demeter had pummeled her and knocked her down. "Hey! What was that for?"

"You locked me in there and thought you would get away with it?" Demeter smiled mischievously.

"I'm sorry!" Bombalurina said, before examining her sister. She then smiled. "Though I must say you don't look too sorry that I did."

Demeter blushed and looked down at her paws. "I had fun," Demeter said.

Bombalurina seemed to huff up. "If he lay one paw on you, I'll--" She started making her way to the kitty door. But Demeter grabbed her tail. "Why does everyone keep grabbing my tail!" she tugged her tail back into her possession, before turning to the queen who had committed the atrocity.

"No, nothing like THAT happened, Bombie. Munkustrap is always a perfect gentlemen, and will continue to be so." Demeter gave a content smile to her sister, but that only seemed to infuriate her more. "Nothing happened!" she assured the red queen. "We talked and I met his humans, and then we played like kittens again."

"Munkustrap?" Bombalurina asked, a smile slowly drawing across her face. "Playing like a kitten?" Demeter reproached herself for saying that. She wasn't supposed to tell anyone…the silver tabby was a little embarrassed he let himself revert back to such a carefree mode. But he HAD been locked up with humans for a week…and he seemed happy when they played together…

"Anyways," she changed the subject. "His family was…nice."

"Oh," Bombalurina said, apparently glad to hear this. She then put her arm around her sister and started walking her off. "Did I ever tell you about my family? They have no children, and it's a very nice couple…and they're looking for another cat. Remember, I told you once?"

* * *

The introductions went very well, and the tribe was both surprised and delighted to see that Bombalurina and Demeter now had matching collars.

* * *

_Authors Note (got tired of the same blah blah blah, heh):  
_

_I was looking in Wikipedia for info on cats when I came across bicolor cats…it says, and I quote, "A black-and-white bicolor cat is often known as a tuxedo cat or a Jellicle cat." I just thought that was interesting…no matter what, Mistoffelees will always be a Jellicle._

_Demo: "Oh, catnip" will spread sooner than I thought...this is good...my diabolical plan is working.  
Enkeli-kitsu: Specimen one, Oh Catnip new user. I'm very happy!  
Satin-n-Crimson: Heh, glad you liked it! I just had to, they are too cute together.  
Krissy4: --Bringer of love. Anyways, ok, sorry to think it was! I couldn't tell, honestly. Glad you like it.  
Ice Goddess: Tugger must flirt as it is his way, lol. And everyone is calling it a kiss! Lol, spoiler in the reviews ((cringe))_

_Anyways, I need sleep, as I got 3 hours last night, and my hand hurts royally from all the writing I did to finish my Lab Notebook. Procrastinators Unite!...Tomorrow...  
_


	16. Life Changes

_A/N: You really don't have to read this, I just want to take a moment to say... I make you feel "fuzzy inside"? "Cute as always"! Its like, I'm getting into a not so cute part of my story, and now you chose to say it, lol! Anyways, I have been told many times that my writing is very ME, so when I heard those two, i was all "Damn...does that mean I'm cute and fuzzy?" But if I make people feel good, I'm happy. Just don't hate me if it's not quite cute and fuzzy anymore, lol! Anyways, carry on!_

* * *

**Chapter 16 – life changes**

Demeter was sitting with her sister in an (otherwise) peaceful place in the junkyard. (There was a Pollicle barking in the background that got on their nerves.) It had been a while since the two could just sit randomly together and do nothing in particular. The black and gold queen had told her sister about what had happened between her and Munkustrap during her stay at his house, and Bombalurina took the news very well. Or at least, the smile on the queen's face seemed to indicate so.

"I knew all along you two were made for each other," Bombalurina said with a knowing smile. She rolled on her back so the sun's rays could hit her underside.

"Wait a minute," Demeter said, looking to her sister. "You knew, and you willingly put me in that house locked away with him? Weren't you nervous something was going to happen?"

"Uh," Bombalurina seemed caught off guard by being caught in her lie. "What does it matter? Just think of the beautiful kittens you two will have."

Demeter blushed furiously at this, getting up and looking around to see if anyone heard this. Her new license jingled against her collar as her head turned from side to side. Then she turned her flustered face to her sister. "First the kids, then you!" she said in a barely audible tone. "Would everyone stop acting like we're mates? It's so…embarrassing."

"Munkustrap embarrasses you?" the red queen asked, getting up and staring at her sister.

"What? No, it's not that. I mean, being shoved together!"

"Do you like him?" Bombalurina stared at her sister, who was looking around nervously. "Should I take that as a yes?" she smirked.

"I don't know what I feel," Demeter said, finally. "Can we just…let this be?" It was fine when they were alone, but to have her relationship, or lack thereof, being the main gossip about the junkyard was something she couldn't deal with at the moment. (Especially not while she was the only one to confirm said relationship.) Couldn't things just take their course without an in depth discussion about _feelings_ with her sister as the main prodder for information?

"Okay, I won't ask anymore," Bombalurina said.

Two seconds passed…

"What if he asked you to be his mate?" asked the queen excitedly.

"I thought you weren't going to ask anymore!" Demeter barely had time to recover from her last change of color before she turned red again.

"But think about it, Deme," the red queen smiled. "Being mates with your kitten hood sweetheart! You always used to follow him around, trying to play with him."

"I know, I reminded him of that," Demeter said off paw.

"Then you two would do the mating dance at the next Jellicle Ball…Cause, you know, as Tribe Protector, he won't get to do much dancing in general…"

"Can we drop this?" The thought of dancing with Munkustrap in front of everyone made her feel like hiding in a hole. More attention than she could take!

"It would be so weird…he would be my brother in law…and he would be family!" Bombalurina shuddered at the thought. She then smiled at the expression of torture on her sister's face. "Okay, I'll stop," said the cat lovingly, as she patted her sister on the head. "But you two were made for each other," she added in sing song before her sister took a playful swipe at her.

The two then lay out in the sun, enjoying its warm rays. Neither of them noticed that the dog that had finally stopped barking.

* * *

Later that afternoon, Tugger and Alonzo were sitting near the kitten area, where the little toms and queens seemed to have fun with their kitten games. Tugger was just out of reach of little Etcetera trying to jump up to him. "Look, if you're going to be tribe protector, at least do a good job of it," Tugger told the insulted black and white. 

"I AM doing a good job," Alonzo said. "I look after the kittens, I patrol the area at night, I can fight off a lot of things…if that's not defending the junkyard, I don't know what is!"

"It's all show," Tugger said, fluffing his mane. "Trust me, I know."

"Because you're so fake, you can spot a fake when you see it?" Alonzo asked.

"Hey!" Tugger said, pointing his digit at Alonzo. After a tense moment, he said, "This is REAL fur, not fake." Alonzo stood baffled as the Maine Coon absentmindedly fixed his mane when there was a sudden flash of grey and black fur. "Ooof!" And Tugger went flying head over heals off his spot and crashing to the ground, where Etcetera quickly threw her arms around him, squealing with delight.

"Hey, Munk," Alonzo said, smiling to the Second in Command. "I see your back." The silver tabby was rubbing his head from where he head butted his brother.

"I need to see you in private, Tugger," the silver cat said. The Maine Coon was holding his injured stomach and trying to get the little tri-colored calico off his neck.

"Give me a minute," the cat said to the silver tabby…

Later on…

Tugger led his brother into his den. Munkustrap took a moment to take in the place. It was…littered with pictures on the wall, ranging from quaint little crayon drawings made by Etcetera of a stick figure Tugger and Etcetera who had very exaggerated eye-lashes, to pictures of cats he could only imagine came from his owner's subscription of Cat Fancy. He took a moment to take in a picture of a Havana Brown that had the name "Exotica" written on her collar before looking over to the cat with some disgust.

"You like my collection?" Tugger asked. When he saw the other frowning at him, he sighed. "It's not like they're doing anything bad! It's a cat magazine, for Everlasting Cat's sake."

"Let me ignore your den and get straight to the point," Munkustrap said, sitting down in a soft pile of old rags. "Why did you shove poor Demeter into my house? What if she got in trouble? She's never been around humans before! She was so terrified!"

"Until she saw you, I bet," Tugger said, a knowing smile on his face. The other cat stared angrily at the cat, but Munkustrap's disapproving looks hardly ever fazed the older Jellicle. "Look, Bombalurina told me she needed her sister to be with her at her house. She didn't want her to get caught by those humans that put you in the pound, so she needed a collar for her. But Demeter didn't want to go to Bomba's place, so I suggested she try out your humans first. They're nice."

"Nice?" Munkustrap asked. "You mean because they didn't throw you out on the street when you ate Jamie's goldfish? Or how about Katie's hamster? Good thing she was in that little hamster ball or we would have both been kicked out."

"Calm down, Edgar von Kittymits," The Rum Tum Tugger said with a smile on his face.

Munkustrap shot up and stared at his brother as though ready for combat. (Perhaps a different kind of combat than what he was used to, but combat no less.) "Never….NEVER…use my full name again," said the cat quite seriously.

Tugger had to repress a laugh and try not to take too much joy in his brother's violent hatred of his own everyday name. "How's the kid?"

"Jamie? He's fine. Going back to school today. He has a French test today, but I don't think he's too confident about it." Then the cat shook his head. "WHY did you do it?" he bellowed.

"Because, we needed to have her adopted! Anyways, what does it matter? She was with you," Tugger said, smiling wryly. "I'm sure everything was okay after that."

"What are you talking about!" he asked, throwing his paws in the air.

"Look, she was lonely and she missed you. That on top of everything is a damn good reason, I think. I know what your family is like, and so any fears she had about humans would be snuffed out when she would be accepted in your human tribe. And she got to spend time with you and get to know you…" Tugger trailed off, giving his brother a sly smile.

Munkustrap looked off, not sure whether he should smile or blush. "It didn't go as smoothly as you would hope, then," he said.

"What are you talking about? Demeter came home beaming the next day. She even let go of punishing me and Bomby! And from what I understand, things went great!" But he could see his brother didn't quite think the same thing.

"I don't know," Munkustrap admitted, sitting down and looking off into space. "We were having fun, chasing each other around."

"Always nice," smirked the other.

"I felt like a kitten again."

"Queens can do that."

"Then, when we ended up under the couch,"

"Oooh, the couch! You Pollicle, you."

"No, that's not what I mean," he stared at his brother for silence. "We hit a beam under the couch and she started licking where I hit my head. And suddenly I remembered Macavity. Then all I could think about was her and THAT CAT. They had spent a lot of time together before he was banished."

Munkustrap looked at Tugger for an interpretation. The Maine Coon stared at his brother before sitting back giving his diagnosis. "So let me get this straight…you were playing with the queen you grew up with, obviously have a thing for, rolling around with her, chasing her around, end up under a couch with her, she's licking you on the head, and you start thinking about _Macavity_?"

"Tugger!" Munkustrap rolled his eyes and threw his paws in the air. But after the older cat had a laugh at his brother's expense, he got a little more serious and looked his brother over with a more serious air about him. "He's gone, Munkustrap. Anyways, do you really think Demeter would see anything in him? He tormented her, too. Maybe not as much as the rest of us, but he did make her cry quite a few times."

"Perhaps," Munkustrap said sadly. "But _Demeter doesn't hate_. And memory is a fickle thing." For a moment Munkustrap reminded Tugger of their grandfather. He seemed wise beyond his years, yet at the same time, he was so insecure in himself. Tugger was seeing his brother for the first time, just another cat that was once a kitten; who had fears and insecurities as well.

"Demeter acts a way with you that she acts with no one else. Not even when Macavity was here. She really likes you. And trust me; I know a thing or two about love."

"That scares me more," Munkustrap said, his eyes widening. Tugger took to throwing an old blanket at Munkustrap. The silver tabby laughed at his brother this time, before the two fell silent.

"So?" Tugger said. Munkustrap stared, waiting for elaboration, but none came.

"So…what?" asked the silver tabby.

"So…when are you going to ask her to be your mate?" Munkustrap stared blankly at the Maine Coon. "Tell me you haven't thought of it! And Old Deuteronomy would be so proud. You two would be the first mated among the kittens."

"We're not kittens anymore! And…she wouldn't accept," said the cat quite seriously, looking off, hoping his brother would drop the subject. But before either tom could continue, a queen entered their presence.

"Everlasting Cat, Tugger," said Bombalurina as she entered the cat's den. "You're collection multiplied. Oh! Soon-to-be-brother!" Bombalurina said this to the tribe protector after she caught his eye. "So, are you and my sister mates, yet?"

"Why does everyone keep saying that?" Munkustrap asked no one in particular, his face starting to flush. But as the other two reveled in his embarrassment, the thought replayed itself over and over in his head.

Him, taking her shy paw…by the moonlight, (because there had to be moonlight.) And not in the junkyard. No, he would take her out to the park he had visited on occasion on the way back from his house to the junkyard. No one would be around. Music would be playing from the near-by coffee shop. His eyes would stare into those glimmering blue eyes of hers. Then he would tell her how honored he would be to have her as his mate. And she would smile shyly and embrace him, telling him she would love to be his mate. Stars would fall. Angels would cry!

Maybe not so over-dramatic, but he liked the general idea. Maybe…in a few days…he would take the dear queen as his mate. If she would allow it, of course.

Bombalurina had gone quiet very suddenly and was sniffing the air. The two toms looked at her, but she shook her head. "It couldn't be…could it?" She sniffed the air again, this time, the toms following suit.

Panic raced through Munkustrap's veins before he shot out of the older cats den. He had to find Demeter…if what he smelled was what he thought it was…

* * *

After her sister had left her to go find Tugger, Demeter found herself wandering around in a sort of euphoria. Everything seemed to be going well lately, and she seemed to have every confidence they would continue to go that way. So she when she realized where her paws had somehow brought her, she was shocked. Why did she come back to this place again? The place the twins assured her wasn't safe. 

A strange chill went up her spine, and the hair on the back of her neck stood on end, as she spun around, searching for what was causing her to act this way. Then she caught the smell of a familiar cat in the air. "Macavity!" she breathed before turning around and seeing the ginger cat, no longer looking clean and tidy as he did before he was first deemed too terrible a cat to stay with the Jellicles.

For some odd reason, Macavity had only to give an odd smile at her, and she felt a strange feeling coming over her. She suddenly forgot all the fears she had towards this cat as she tried to walk forward to him, all common sense lost. He needn't even speak a word to her, and she was mechanically walking to him, as though he was pulling her to him. She could feel herself being stolen away, by a hypnosis she seemed glad to give into. It seemed so familiar, so alluring…

"Demeter!" The voice seemed far away, but…there was something about that voice too. That voice was more alluring than whatever illusion she was falling into at the moment. "Demeter!" It took a few moments before the queen blinked herself out of her transfixed state and looked back to where the voice was calling her from.

"Munku?" she called back, but her voice came very weakly.

"Oh, damn it all to hell," yelled the cat behind her; the cat she almost forgot about. As she spun around, the cat lunged towards. There was a sharp pain, and everything went black.

* * *

_Authors Note:_

_Beware of too much sugary cuteness, you might get cavities. _

_Demo: Lol, see why I have been worried about people saying my writing is cute. Things can't stay that way! Espcecially with THAT cat around, gyah! But he does make things interesting, doesn't he?  
Satin-n-Crimson: When I originally planned this chapter, many moons ago, she was going to stay with Munku's family. But it made things too difficult for them later on. I know, I love the two as well, but stories run away with themselves, lol.  
Lozzypop: WELCOME TO THE REVIEW BOARD! Lol! I agree, they are sweet, but they have always been that way, whether I messed with them or not ((smile)) Thank you for the review! Spread "Oh Catnip" around.  
Enkeli-kitsu: Kitty! You're back! WB! Yeah, my cat did what Munku did, but I think he would not eat something he didn't like. I just thought the licking his lips when I asked if he liked it was too cute. But Munku aims to please, lol. _


	17. Slow Comprehension

**Chapter 17 – Slow Comprehension**

Demeter woke up with a headache. Yes, a definite headache. There wasn't getting around that. But where did it come from?

Looking around, she realized she had never been to this place before. She was inside a room, a man-made enclosure of four walls and an opening only big enough for a cat to fit through (as the door was broken at the bottom.) Oh, dear…

Demeter felt her heart begin to beat faster as she tried to get up, but the headache caused her to tip over quite suddenly. No, she couldn't go walking around just yet. Lifting her paw to her head, she felt the lump that was there. She hissed air through her teeth at the pain she felt before closing her eyes. Perhaps this was all a dream…

Everything seemed hazy, after all, and she knew very well that dreams can be very painful until the moment you wake up. Demeter frowned, as she never liked dreaming. She always felt trapped in her dreams…and this seemed to be no exception. All she could do was deal with the feeling until she woke up, as she surely would. (Hopefully, that would be soon.)

Someone cleared his throat, and Demeter looked up, surprised. Macavity was standing there, in front of her. His coat was dusty and matted with dirt and what she hoped wasn't blood. His whiskers were mangled, hardly kept straight for proper use. And it seemed like his face looked much more…she wasn't sure…older? Worn out? His eyes were sunken in like that of a cat who hadn't slept in a very long time. Or from having seen too much in his time…

He looked very different from that well-kept cat from when they were in the Jellicle Tribe together. That seemed so long ago. But _he_ seemed hazy as well, so she wasn't sure what to make of this. _Was it a dream_? Or more likely, was this a nightmare?

Macavity laughed and smiled a scary smile. "You look surprised," he said.

"Where am I?" she asked, shaking her head, before feeling herself tip slightly to the side as the pain in her head threw off her balance.

"Let me show you around, _my dear_," he said simply. He turned and began to lead the way. Not sure of what to do, Demeter slowly lifted herself, held her aching head, and began to follow the hazy figure of the cat that was a nightmare incarnate.

Once she stepped out of the room, she stopped in awe. She was in a warehouse, complete with a roof over her head and enclosed spaces. And there were dozens upon dozens of cats roaming all around the warehouse. As she was standing on a staircase, she could see all the cats teaming around at the first floor. There were so many, the floor might as well have been moving…

"Is this your tribe?" the queen asked absentmindedly. Some of the cats seemed to notice Demeter, and began giving her dirty looks and hissing lowly, some whispering to others and grinning menacingly. All of them looked dirty, covered in one or another filthy thing, and the air about them was ominous. Demeter knew at once that she stuck out like a sore paw. Macavity seemed to be smiling a smug smile to her. "What am I doing here?" she asked in a whisper to the banished cat she never expected to see again.

Macavity rolled his eyes. "I brought you here," he answered dryly. He probably thought it was a dumb question to ask.

"But why?" Demeter asked. Macavity stared at her, as though trying to decipher the question himself. He then sighed, as though annoyed with her questions, and beckoned her to follow him. Having no where else to go, she did so.

The 'tour' of his new tribe was….frightening, to say the least. Cats raced out of Macavity's way, but the moment the cat was past them, they hissed and made to scratch Demeter. The queen raced up to keep close to Macavity, but at times, even that wouldn't help. Her headache was still pounding away, and when she raced to catch up to the fast walking cat, she felt she would tip over, causing her to slow down, and cats to attempt to scratch at her.

The inhabitants alone were terrifying enough without the overwhelming stench of garbage and ammonia wafting in the air, making her feel sick. And every once and a while, she could spot red splatters on the floor she tried to ignore. The kittens seemed the calmest things in the tribe, but even their games of what should be playful wrestling seemed overly violent. And every area or room they entered in their "tour" was filled with human items that Demeter was hardly familiar with. Some of the items were hardly anything to fret over, some were even pretty. But some had sharp edges or spikes that were certainly broken or even made to be that way. Why these cats had them, she did not want to know.

"Let me show you something, Demeter," said the cat with an almost mischievous smile. (It was very unsettling.) Demeter stepped back when she heard a very distinct "NOOOOOO" come from the other side of the 'door' that was in front of them. Her fur was on end, and she began shaking. The pitiful moaning made her cringe, and she wasn't sure what to do with herself. "I would opt to call it a form of torture, but the others don't deem it so," explained the ginger cat.

Demeter's heart jumped into her throat. A form of torture so horrible that the other villainous cats didn't even consider it a _form of torture_! "Macavity, you wouldn't!" breathed the frightened queen.

"I would," he grinned evilly, and began to open the door. And what she saw on the other side…

"NOOOO!" screamed the orange and black tabby. "DAMN YOU, GRIDDLEBONE! That's the third time I lost this week!" He sank down in horror, cards in his paws. A white Persian smiled smugly, taking her winnings close to her and putting it in the pile behind her. "My sistah is gunna kill me!"

"It's your fault, Mungo," the queen said slyly, taking up a small jewel and inspecting it. "You're the one who keeps betting against me. You should know better by now." At that, she placed the jewel in her volumous fur, and there it disappeared.

Demeter breathed a sigh of relief. Macavity seemed to find her jittery sigh amusing. "What did you expect to see?" he asked the frightened queen. "Pekes hanging by their dewclaws? It's just a bit of harmless fun for my tribe." The tabby jumped up at the sound of the ginger cat's voice, but the Persian simply looked Demeter over, a knowing smile on her face.

"Don't be rude, Mungo," said the white queen, shuffling her cards. "Introduce yourself to the new tribe member." Demeter didn't realize right then that the other queen was talking about her.

"I'm Mungojerrie," said the cat, a mix of grumpiness and nervousness in his voice. His paws fished for Griddlebone's cards to make sure she didn't cheat, before the queen hit his paw away. "An' that's Griddlebone," he said, rubbing his paw. The white queen bowed her head at the introduction.

"Macavity," the queen said, turning her head to the ginger cat, a cunning smile on her face. "Would you like to play a game of cards?" Macavity seemed to be keen to the offer, but before he could accept, there was a loud noise outside, and some hissing and yowling. The white queen sighed. "You should probably go fix that. You can't have too many of your tribe members dying, now can you?"

Macavity growled lowly at the suggestion, before looking at Demeter as though he suddenly remember she was there. (Demeter remembered that indifference in his addressing her from when they were kittens, and quite frankly hated it now.) "Just don't get attacked," he said to the queen, before turning to Mungojerrie. The orange tabby stiffened. "Bring her to my den when you're done here." Without waiting for a response, he slipped out of the room with a very quiet footfall.

"NEXT!" Griddlebone called at the top of her lungs, making Demeter jump.

"I'll go," said Demeter before she realized it. Her head was still aching, and her headache seemed to be getting worse. But all in all, the cats in front of her were still covered in haze, which made her wish that this was all just some odd nightmare, and she would wake up next to Bombalurina, or Munkustrap would hear her cries and come to comfort her.

Mungojerrie looked at the new queen in surprise and some reverence. Apparently she didn't look like the gambling type. Demeter knew that look pretty well from the looks her sister got - not the 'she's so pretty' look, but the 'she's got guts' look. Griddlebone must have thought the same thing, as she smirked and shuffled the cards.

"You're new here, kitten. I don't want to take you for all your worth. And you really don't have anything to bargain…" Demeter looked around her, half expecting some form of collateral to appear before her. But nothing came. "Well, I guess I would have to do with that cute little collar of yours." Demeter grabbed at her collar in shock, which made the queen smile. "And in return, if you win, you can have anything in my horde of things that you desire."

"How about his stuff back?" Demeter suggested, pointing a paw at Mungojerrie. The cat looked baffled at the queen. He himself had a collar on as well, and absentmindedly pawed at it when she made the suggestion. He must have known the pride of carrying a collar of a family who loves him, if nothing else.

"You would risk your collar for the items of a stranger?" Griddlebone asked. "My dear kitten, you really ARE new to the tribe. The first thing they teach you is not to trust anyone, and no one ever learns the easy way."

Demeter stared at the cat, tempted to say something, but she bit her lip instead. She had no idea what this beautiful Persian might do to her if she said what she wanted to right then. "I guess I'll learn the hard way," she said as casually as she could, not sure what the queen was really getting at. Would someone be so untrustworthy?

Griddlebone smiled lithely and waved the cat over to sit while she shuffled the cards. As Mungojerrie watched carefully, the white queen dealt the cards. "A game of blackjack, if you will? What you do is try and get to twenty-one, without going over. Closest to twenty-one wins."

"I've played this game before," Demeter said, remembering how keen Macavity had been on playing card games when they were kittens. His brain never seemed to want to stop working, and card games gave him a little challenge. Griddlebone seemed surprised at first, but then smiled knowingly. (That smile was getting on Demeter's nerves…what was she so knowledgeable about?)

After passing the cards out appropriately, the white queen burst into conversation. "What is a sweet little thing like you doing here, anyways? You're demeanor is all wrong. You don't even _look_ like you would make a good _thief_…no offense, Mungo."

"None taken," Mungojerrie said, looking over Demeter's shoulder as the queen looked at her overturned card. She didn't really like the tom so close to her…as on top of everything else, he smelled like garbage, really. But that seemed to be the common smell of the entire warehouse…

"I was brought here by Macavity," Demeter said, not wanting to divulge her theory of this all being a dream. She touched the knot on her head and winced slightly. (Well, at least now she knew it still hurt…)

But the gold and black queen's reaction to her pain said it all to the white queen. "He…_brought_…you here? Those are hardly the words you're looking for, kitten. He kit-napped you and you know it. I'm just amazed at how calm you are right now. This is probably all hard for you to take in, I'm guessing."

Looking up sharply at the queen across from her, she tried hard to focus on her. No, she was still hazy, telling her that she was probably still trapped in her dream. And why was she being addressed as a kitten in her own nightmare? If anything, she should get respect. "My name is Demeter," she said to the Persian.

"It doesn't matter," said Griddlebone with a sad look on her face. "You probably won't last too long anyways. They never do." Demeter looked over to the tabby on her right, but he was frowning at the Persian. The gold and black queen could feel her heartbeat quicken, but she tried hard not to get a flustered look on her face.

As the Persian dealt her final card, Demeter made a motion to stay. She then showed her card total. "Nineteen," she announced. Mungojerrie smiled smugly at Griddlebone.

"Twenty-one," smiled Griddlebone roguishly, turning her card over. "It's time to pay, dear little one." Demeter cursed herself for letting her guard down. As the Persian held her paw out for her payment, Demeter hesitated. Dream or not, her collar meant a lot to her…she probably should have thought this more through. (But with the bump on her head, who could think straight?) She should have at least kept a better eye on the queen, to catch her in the act…but a bet was a bet.

"So sorry, love," said the tabby as Demeter took her collar off. She let out a short sigh as she handed her collar over to the dream Persian. Was it just her, or did the queen start glowing?

"I love collars," the Persian explained as she took the collar and examined the license. "Don't you, Pumpkin?" Griddlebone then tried Demeter's collar on over her bare neck, making the gold and black queen cringe. She suddenly felt sick. What if this wasn't a dream and she had actually handed her collar, her memory, her name over to the cheating Persian? "What do you think, Mungo? Don't I look luscious?"

"Yeah, yeah," Mungojerrie said, taking Demeter's arm in his paw and helping her up to leave. Demeter fell back against the tabby before she could get her balance. "You 'ave the collah, stop gloatin'." Demeter knew she had to wake up soon. She had to, and she would have her collar and be safe with everyone she knew, safe in the junkyard. After all, she did feel weird when she first thought she saw Macavity. She might have fainted from sun stroke or something, making her hallucinate this entire ordeal.

But the tom that was helping her get her balance seemed so real…

"I'm so sorry," Mungojerrie said as he walked her around the unfamiliar, indistinct area. "If I'da known you were gunna do that, I'da stopped ya."

"It's not your fault," Demeter said. "I was trying to catch her cheating, but she drew my attention away. My sister is better at spotting it than I am."

"Ah, no one's evah seen 'er cheat," Mungojerrie said. "I don' even think she does…"

"She did," Demeter assured him. "I know it when I see it…it's just catching them in the act that's hard."

"I KNEW IT!" Mungojerrie said quite loudly, causing many heads to turn in their direction. Demeter held her head as it started to pound again. Some of the cats seemed to notice who the orange and black tabby was escorting, and made to claw at the cat, but Mungojerrie hissed at them and threatened to scratch them if they came close. It was crude, but she didn't get quite so many jabs or scrapes with someone as her extra eyes. "Why'd ya be wit 'er if ya knew she was gunna cheat?"

Demeter wasn't sure how to answer that. Mainly, she was intrigued by the scene taking place in front of her, and figured that if she was in a dream, she might as well do some good. But that hardly sounded so good, so she had to make something up fast to the dream tabby. After all, she was hardly a saintly cat, but she might as well be one in her own delusion. "I didn't think it was right that she was taking advantage of you," she said. That sounded good…

Mungojerrie seemed to appreciate that lie, and smiled.

* * *

When they finally got to Macavity, he told the tabby to leave them alone. Mungojerrie gladly left the presence of the ginger cat.

The former Jellicle got up on a chair that allowed him to tower over whoever he was talking to. He then looked down and smiled deviously to her. "What do you think? Not bad for a banished cat, hmm? An _entire tribe_ at my disposal, and they all depend on me as their leader." Demeter stared at the ginger cat. Sure she wasn't feeling too well, but she wasn't sure she was hearing correctly… "Welcome to my tribe, Demeter." He laid his head against his paw, surveying the queen for a reaction.

"Uh…" was all she could manage at first, before trying to shake her head clear. "I already have a tribe. You know that. I love them like my family."

"Them?" Macavity asked in a cold voice that made Demeter shiver. Sure, the ginger cat had never been pleasant to be around, but he usually wasn't quite so intimidating. "That old cat kicked me out of the tribe for defending you and you sister. And that 'brother' of mine became tribe protector. I would have been much better. I'm much stronger than HIM any day." There was no contending Macavity's strength. He may have been tall and thin, but he was all muscle. Compared to him, Munkustrap looked like a fat house cat, true. But had the cat so easily forgotten why he was banished? Had he learned _anything_? She wouldn't say anything to him, for no matter what she thought of her reality at that moment, Macavity was still an alarming presence. He looked far more hostile than he ever did in the tribe. And she had no idea what he was capable of now.

"Don't you agree?" he asked her, staring at the queen as though waiting for something.

"I wouldn't know," Demeter managed. While he probably could easily beat the silver tabby she was very fond of, she didn't want to think of what could happen if he won a fight against Munkustrap.

"You'll know soon enough," he said lowly. Demeter shuddered. "Go find a place to sleep," he said before waving her off with his paw.

Glad to get away from the ginger cat, she went out the way she came in before brushing across another cat. "Excuse me," she said mechanically, before her heart stopped beating for a moment. The cat stared at her in the same bewildered fashion. They simply stared at each other, both dumb-founded, before the cat made a move to attack the queen. But he suddenly stopped and turned around to see Macavity was at the entry to his den, staring at cat with a gleam in his eyes Demeter remembered well. The cat quickly withdrew and ran away.

After a tense moment, Macavity looked over to Demeter with a serious look on his face. "You remember him, don't you?" he asked, before turning and going back into his den.

Oh, yes. She remembered that cat…though he was hardly quite so alive and well at the time. He remembered him lying in a pool of blood. He remembered the chaos that ensued that night. And though that should have assured her that this was all a nightmare, comprehension suddenly dawned in her poor, aching head.

This was not a dream…

This was not a nightmare…

She was trapped in a very scary reality…and as all the cats stared at her like she was their prey, she realized she might have just been sent to hell.

* * *

_A/N : Hehe, um...Bio test...Otherwise I would have updated earlier. Anyways! So, I've been working on the ending to this story lately...and I still haven't gotten the kinks worked out..and in about eight chapters I'll have run out of material if I don't think about the ending NOW! Lol, great! Work, imagination, work!  
_

_Demo: Heh, You seem to be the only one worried about Demeter right now. Oh sure, when she gets shoved into Munku's house, everyone is all "she must be so scared", now they're all "Hey! Look! it's Macavity!" Lol! Thanks for your concern for her!  
Satin: Ah, brain-washing, now there's a scenario I tried playing with...  
Krissy4: Shame on you! You should always read even when you can't stand looking at the written word one more minute ((wink)) Lol, as long as you review when you can't, I love ya for it! No worries ((pats you on the head))  
Enkeli-Kitsu: LOL if they could just be mates, that would be wonderful for them but...such a boring story. But I know what you mean! I wuv those kitty-cats._


	18. Viscious

**Chapter 18 - Viscious**

Brown, orange, red, grey, but the fur that stood out the most was the gold and black fur of the queen Demeter. Her fur seemed to shine compared to the other's, as she always kept it nice and clean. These cats hardly seemed to car about hygiene. They hardly seemed to care about manners, as it was. And they certainly didn't care to worry of their new "tribe member".

A cat hissed on Demeter's right and took a swipe at her, causing the clumsy-footed queen to stagger to the left. Then a piercing pain came from her head as another cat had smacked her with his claws, right where the lump on her head was. Demeter cried in pain, and quickly backed away, but another cat came out of nowhere and lunged at her. Pulling her tail out of the way, Demeter did her best to keep any tears from falling from her eyes and struggled to walk straight and away from any of the cats that wanted to attack her.

Demeter raced forward, her stomach barely off the ground as she was crouched low to make herself smaller, as though that would stop the others from attacking her. But that only fueled their behavior, as they began to chase after her and claw at her. Only when one sunk its claws into her side did she hiss and turned to take a swipe at the cat that did it.

But when she realized she had scratched a young queen right across the face, she knew she was done for. The queen was very pretty, even for being one with a dull coat like the rest of them, and shrieked in horror at the fact that her pretty little face had been scratched.

"I-I'm so sorry!" Demeter said, but that was drowned out by the low growling of the queen's friends nearby. That, on top of the cats that were already harassing her (and the cats who just didn't like the way she looked) meant she was in big trouble.

The unfamiliar felines all stared at her with their eyes wide open, hackles raised, and hissing lowly. Demeter sunk down very low, moving back, trying to keep her whimpers to herself. But the second that one of the cats made a move to lunge at her, Demeter took off like a bolt of lightning, racing across the warehouse as fast as she could, dodging anything she could, jumping over cats, nearly tripping over cats who strategically placed their paws out, and tried her best to get away from the ones who were swarming in on her.

But there was no way out! In the junkyard, there was escape anywhere. She knew it like the back of her paw, and every exit was open to her whim. But here, she could see no possible escape, and everything was against her.

When she finally found herself at a dead-end, she had no time to think as the other cats pummeled her and held her to the ground. The queens smiled sadistically and stared down at the trembling Jellicle. Demeter tried to scream for help, but couldn't get the word out. Then the toms came, and seemed very interested in the situation.

As all the cats rounded on her, things looked bleak. Demeter thought she would surely be hurt bad…and she prayed fiercely to the Everlasting Cat that she wouldn't have to go through whatever plan the others had for her. She only screamed when she felt a paw touch down on her leg. "HELP!" she screamed, tears beginning to stream down her face.

There seemed to be no oxygen around her. But she needed fresh air! Her heart was beating so fast, and she needed to breathe, but the air was replaced by the stale breath of the cats that had surrounded her, had pinned her down, and were almost piled on top of her, surely to teach her a lesson about taking a swipe at one of their prettier queens. The pain in Demeter's head increased and she knew she would pass out soon, which was probably her only salvation.

"Leave 'er alone!" A queen's voice rang out over the rest of the cats. A few moments later, some the cats had scattered and she could breathe again. When all the cats had gotten off of her, Demeter curled up and gasped raggedy breaths, her face wet with the tears she had shed. "You've frightened 'er to death! Get away from 'ere before I claw the eyes out of each an' every one a ya!" The gold queen peered up at her savior from her place on the floor.

Demeter was sure she was hallucinating, because the cat looked exactly like Mungojerrie, yet at the same time, was obviously a female. (Well, she didn't look exactly like him then, but very similar.) The queen somehow seemed to be holding off the ten-odd cats that had piled on top of Demeter. She wasn't sure how one cat, a queen at that, had held off all the other cats! It was absolutely ridiculous…like something that would happen to the Rumpus Cat, if you just replace the cats with Pollicles.

"You're a'ight, love." Demeter's eyes shot up and she smiled to see a friendly face. Sure, she had only seen him once, but he was the kindest thing she had ever seen at that point. He put down a paw and helped the poor queen up. She was trembling all over, and Mungojerrie patted her on the back before the queen let all her weight fall against him.

"She scratched my face," said the pretty queen to the young tabby.

"It's an improvement," said the female tabby. The pretty queen and her friends hissed lowly at her, but the toms had already lost interest and walked off. With the backing of the toms gone, Mungojerrie growled at the other queens. That together with the female tabby, the queens didn't seem to think it was worth the trouble anymore and walked off, not before kicking dirt and garbage in Demeter's general vicinity. When they were finally out of sight, the gold Jellicle began to sob.

"Aw, don' cry," Mungojerrie said hesitantly, looking over to the other tabby. "Teazah, she's cryin'!"

"Well, I don' blame 'er," she said, carefully patting Demeter on the back. "The poor thing 'as no place in the tribe, an' they don' like new blood. Don' worry, love." Demeter couldn't help but start gasping for air, crying, unable to hold anything back. The two tabbies looked at each other and led her away gently. The queen felt she could trust these two…the last time she would be feeling that about any of the cats in this tribe.

* * *

Demeter was resting in the cat burglars' make-shift den. It was an old barrel made comfy with fancy little pillows and blankets, and a make-shift door made from a thick blanket covering the entrance. Demeter lay in the blankets and did her best to clean her fresh wounds. She tried not to think of how they could have been a lot worse. 

Mungojerrie was sitting across from her, humming a tune to himself. The one named Rumpleteazer had gone, and the silence between the two cats had started immediately. The only sounds that could be heard were the incessant licking of the gold and black queen and the humming of the tabby tom.

After Demeter was bored with cleaning her wounds, she looked sheepishly to the tom. He kept looking at her, before looking away. Demeter sighed. Mungojerrie sighed. The two stared off into space. Then Demeter glanced at the tom at the same time he glanced at her. When their eyes met, they quickly looked away. It was odd being in the den of a tom that wasn't from the Jellicle Tribe… (Needless to say, he must have thought her presence odd as well.)

"T-thank you," Demeter said finally, breaking the silence. "I never got a chance to thank you for everything."

"No, no, it's nothin'," the tom assured her, waving a paw at the queen. "You're a'ight though, aren'tcha?"

"I will be," she assured him, taking a moment to look her injuries over. "I've never been in a fight before. I've never even scratched another cat before, actually."

"Really?" the tom seemed truly intrigued. "My sistah and I 'ave been in more fights than I can remembah."

"Really?" the queen seemed intrigued as well. "That's…kind of…sad."

"Well…We've been on our own for a while," he said, touching his collar with his paw. But before Demeter could ask him about it, the one named Rumpleteazer came in, carrying something that made Demeter's mouth water.

"I've got food!" Rumpleteazer announce, placing down a tasty smelling dish. "Fresh out the oven! Argentine joints…you won't get any thinnah, now, so eat up!" Demeter hardly needed any prompting. She immediately dug into the food as though she would never have another meal again. The two watched her for a while, sad looks on their face, as though they were staring into their past, before they shook their heads and came back to reality.

"Jerrie, I've been looking for that candlestick and those jewels we took this mornin'. Have you seen them?" Rumpleteazer went to a corner of their barrel, taking her share of the food and eating. By this point, Demeter had all but inhaled the food and looked up at the two, licking the trace fragments of meat and juice from her lips.

"Uh," Mungojerrie was at a loss for words. "Ya see….I kinda…sorta….lost them."

"Lost them?" Rumpleteazer asked, bewildered. Then the look of comprehension dawned on her face, before it was replaced with anger. "You were bettin' with Griddlebone again, weren'tcha?"

"I thought I could beat 'er this time!" Mungojerrie said.

"No one can beat 'er, Jerrie!" Rumpleteazer said. It wasn't until this point, in which Demeter had bearings on her situation and food in her stomach, that she could appreciate their matching accents. Sure, she had a little trouble understanding them at times, but if the cockney accents were the voices of her heroes, she hardly minded.

"I thought I could win our things back!" Mungojerrie defended. "And it wasn't so bad. I met the sweet lil' queen here because of Griddlebone. Ain't that right, uh….you?" Demeter tried not to be too insulted that Mungojerrie forgot her name as she reminded him what it was. "Yeah, I would'na met Demetah 'ere if it wasn't for my--"

"Gamblin' problem?" Rumpleteazer interrupted. "We need those things for Macavity to think we're USEFUL, Jerrie! Don't evah go back to that queen again!"

Demeter couldn't help herself and laughed at the two. The two matching tabbies stared at Demeter's inappropriate laughter. "I'm sorry," she said, shaking her head before she remembered why she was trying to avoid all movement all together. "I just think you two are so funny. You sound like either a mated couple or a mother and her kitten."

"Ya 'ear that, MUM?" Mungojerrie said to his sister. "That's 'er way of tellin' you to stop naggin' at me!"

"Why, I oughtta," Rumpleteazer mumbled at Mungojerrie before turning to the other queen. "We should be quiet. She needs 'er sleep." It was odd being told by a cat younger than her (probably still a kitten) that she needs to go to sleep. But now that she was fed and somewhat safe, she did feel sleep overtaking her. The tabby queen must have noticed as well. Demeter could feel her eyes shutting in protest to lack of sleep. So with a grateful smile, she laid her head down.

"Thank you," she said to them as she felt her mind fall into a deep sleep.

* * *

In her dream, she was walking across a thin bridge, bracing herself on all fours as she could feel the bridge giving weigh. Down under was a black pit that was waiting to consume her. There were sounds of torture and crying coming from the pit, though she could see nothing. 

Then she looked to her destination. That's where she longed to be. It was a veritable Eden, where she knew she would be safe, and could almost see the open arms of those she loved waiting for her. As she crossed the bridge, daring to take each step, she knew she could not turn back now. Eden…she yearned to be back in paradise!

But suddenly, the earth was trembling, and bridge began to buckle and break beneath her. She did her best to hold on fast, but the shaking became more and more, and she thought she would let go at any moment. If only she could hold one for one more second!

Demeter woke with a start, not knowing whether she fell or not. Mungojerrie was shaking her very hard, and Demeter had to pull herself away to make him stop. "I'm awake!" she said, her fur on end, and her eyes wide. Her headache was better today, but still there. Why couldn't she have dreamed it away?

Realizing where she was, she took a moment to regain her composure. She was still in the two tabby's den. Why couldn't she have dreamed that away as well?

"Get your tail movin'," Mungojerrie said. Rumpleteazer was rustling through her things, trying to find something. "We 'ave work to do, and you're bettah off if your awake than if your asleep." Rumpleteazer gave a triumphant yell as she found the two bags she was looking for before handing one to Mungojerrie. The two seemed in a rush to leave. Rumpleteazer smiled at Demeter, and before the gold queen could say anything, the two were off out the door, only their tail flick saying goodbye to her.

Demeter jumped up and gasped at the thought of being alone again in the tribe. She contemplated staying in the thieves' den all day, but once one cat took notice of her through a small opening to the entrance, she knew she couldn't do that. They began whispering to one another, and if she didn't want to be trapped, she had to turn her tail and run.

Her agility was hardly as good as the other cats in the tribe, and even the process of exiting a den was an adventure, as they took swipes at her. Having escaped with a few scratches, the gold queen decided it was probably best if she try and find a way out of this warehouse and back to the Jellicles. After all, she was a cat, and should be able to use her sense of direction or _something_…

Demeter found a place where she could try climbing to a window without being attacked by the other cats. While it took her a few attempts to climb the pile of garbage that acted almost like a staircase, she eventually reached the top and stared out the window to see what she could find.

Her hopes fell as she realized she had no idea where she was, not even remotely. What's more, it seemed the only way out of the warehouse was through the front yard, which was enclosed in a fence. Cats were swarming outside, a teeming community of murderers and villains who had no qualms about attacking a defenseless queen who was out of her element.

After staring outside with a feeling of hopelessness, she sighed and turned to climb down. There was only one problem…A few cats had found her and stared up at her, waiting for the moment she would climb down. And she had so much trouble climbing up, Demeter could almost foresee herself falling and crashing down into the group of cats ready to hurt her.

She began to think Griddlebone was right…She wouldn't last long.

* * *

Tired, hurt, lonely, and homesick, the ill-treated queen found her way back to Macavity's general area (as it wasn't really a den, because it was so huge). The entire way there, as she looked around for deserted places to run across and prayed that she wouldn't get more hurt, she kept thinking of who wasn't there with her. The protectiveness of her sister and Munkustrap…the warm smile of Old Deuteronomy…the healing ways of Jennyanydots (that's what she missed most at the moment.) Her thoughts kept on this as she made her way in Macavity's "den". She was surprised at how happy she was to see him. She hoped he would do something about the cats in his control before they destroyed her. 

"Oh," Macavity said with some amazement in his voice as he looked over the queen in his presence. After a moment of silence in which he was surely thinking of ways to punish the cats who had done this to her, Demeter felt her hopes rise slightly. "You're finally building some character. Walk with your tail high. They'll be less likely to bother you if they think you can take on a fight."

Demeter felt the sting of tears forming in her eyes, but she wasn't about to cry in front of this despicable ginger cat. So she took on an angry face as she watched the cat turn and walk past her, signaling her to follow. Having no where else to go, she did as she was told.

Walking a while, tail held high in anger and frustration, and glaring at any cat that would dare attack her just then, she thought she had what it took to survive in this tribe, if she could just keep this anger up. When Macavity led her to a open window that looked out over the yard, she jumped up and bravely sat along side him, hardly close enough to touch him, but not far enough away to show that she was scared of him. She then took notice of why she was brought here.

The members of the tribe looked up intently at Macavity, who seemed to be enjoying the attention. The crowd of cats was in a half circle, only a small aisle was made between them all to allow two large cats to drag one brown and black cat, unknown to Demeter and probably nameless to Macavity. Demeter realized they all were nameless to him; pawns in his games of thievery and destruction.

She suddenly lost her nerve to be so near to this former Jellicle that so easily lived among such horrible cats. And not only lived, but supposedly ruled over them. Looking over to Macavity, he had an odd look in his eyes she couldn't place. "A traitor," he said simply as Demeter took another glimpse down at the cat who was struggling to get free, tears streaming down his face, yelling out words she couldn't quite hear. What could he have done in this tribe that would have made him a traitor?

Out of the side of her eye, Demeter saw Macavity give the slightest of nods to the cats below. The biggest cats, what looked to be the strongest in his tribe, all jumped onto the struggling, crying cat.

And in front of her eyes, they quite literally tore him to shreds.

Demeter placed her paws over her mouth, gasping in horror at the scene in front of her, trying to turn her eyes away from the sight, but unable to avoid hearing the screams of torment.

After what seemed like an eternity, a life was ended by the simple nodding of a head. And viciously, at that. She had never seen anything like it in here life, and prayed to the Everlasting Cat she would never have to see it again. 'No,' she thought. 'No…no…no…"

When Macavity spoke again, Demeter startled, looking at the cat in horror. "That'll teach him to turn on me," he said softly. Then loudly, he said to the cats down below, "You have seen what happens to a traitor. Anyone of you turn against the tribe again, and you have seen your future."

The ginger cat turned to go back inside. The gold queen didn't have the courage to follow, but when she saw the still blood-thirsty cats in the crowd looking around for something more to attack, she thought it best to stay with the ginger cat, for her own safety. A choice between the devil and his minions, it seemed the one with power was the safest to follow.

But then Macavity looked over to Demeter, a look in his eyes she had never seen before. Without being asked, he explained, "Sometimes, we're all just better off dead." There was no malicious tone in his voice. Demeter could only think it to be a strange form of sympathy…like a cat that had seen his own future, and saw nothing to live for.

The gold queen knew Macavity had never been a normal cat. His judgment was far off. His heart was hardly warm. When the shock of the blood-bath was over, and she was safe again with the twins who calmed her hysteric ranting, she began to realize that perhaps Macavity wished _he_ was the cat who had been killed back then.

* * *

_Sorry it took me so long to update. I felt bad, heh. I asked my friend for help with trying to get my point across with one part of the storyline, and she gave me an idea I was very greatful for. Then I had to actually put it into the story, while most of it is alredy planned out. So then I had to figure out where to put it in, and I have been trying to make it flow, which is why I took forever and a day to get this chapter up. Sorry! But hey, better than giving out bad chapters, right? ((hopes they don't turn out bad anyways))_

_ By the way, I just realized I could enable anonymous reviews...so if you want to review, feel free! Lol_

_Demo: ((comfort)) it's ok, he's just a story character, he can't hurt you, hehe. (Unless you call him a kitten)  
Enkeli-kitsu: Well, no, he's not a fat house cat, and frankly I felt bad calling him that, but I meant to say SEEMED rather than LOOKED, which makes it sound better. Instead, I just mushed it, lol. And thanks for feeling for Demeter ((smile))  
Satin: LOL, while I know the bit your doing, I can't answer your review at all, haha! You have to tune in...next update time...next updated chapter! OH! And you were my 50th review! Thank you so much! I feel like you should win a door prize or something..._

_Thanks to all my reviewers who brought me to 50 reviews! My _True Love_ one shot also reached 10 reviews, and I'm very happy!  
_


	19. Rise of Napoleon

**Chapter 19 – Rise of Napoleon**

Macavity, the Mystery Cat; mysterious in his antics and delinquent behavior. At first. No one could figure out how he got away with his tricks and jokes, but they hardly considered him a simple prankster. Pouncival was a prankster. Tugger could be a prankster at times. Even Etcetera could manage a prank or two. No, he was different. He was a deviant type of prankster, delinquent in his ways, and aiming to humiliate and harm the ones he sought out as his prey.

Sure, he calmed down a bit after he was told to, but only in the frequency of his attacks. They became more and more intricate, subtle and obscure until the moment someone realized what had happened to them. And by the time they realized what he had done, Macavity wasn't there.

Of course, we all know of the one time when he wanted to get caught, to show the tribe his power. _"You're exiled from this tribe. You are not to contact any members of the Jellicles, and do not attempt to come back."_ And like that, _they_ destroyed _his_ life.

After Munkustrap and Alonzo ran the young cat out of the tribe, he raced down the streets and disappeared from their view. But he watched as the two cats caught their breath and went back into the junkyard he once could call home. "Damn," he said to himself, before looking himself over. He had two scratches on him. TWO WHOLE SCRATCHES that tiny kitten was able to get off before Macavity rightfully put him in his place. But no one cared about _his_ wounds, now did they?

For a while, all he could think to do was pace and curse under his breath, angry and blood boiling, looking for someone to appropriately blame for his banishment. That kitten, _that damn kitten_, should not have MADE him fight. What's more, he should have put up a better fight, if it didn't want to get so hurt. And that silver tabby should have been doing his job in the first place, if he was so proud of it… That stupid brother of his was always getting things he didn't deserve, always getting attention that made his head big, and built up to some great protector that he hardly was. That position should have been _his_.

That brainless Bombalurina, being so sexy yet so dim-witted. That's probably what led the cat in to begin with! She was nice to have around, as he knew the other toms were jealous of him for having the attention of the most beautiful queen in the tribe, but that was hardly a prize he could revel in if he had to put up with no loyalty from his former "lackey".

Then there was his grandfather…Old Deuteronomy. Banishing his own grandson from the tribe he was born in! The old cat should drop dead from his senseless disregard for his own progeny. He only hoped that the sorry excuse for a bear rug would realize what he had done and in his grief, slowly wither and die…or somehow get electrocuted. (That would be more interesting.) Always defending the kittens that weren't even related to him…

Like that Demeter. What use was it having power over a cat that had a mind of her own? She threw him into the lions den and watched as the cats tried to tear him apart. Not that he would have ever defended her in the same situation, but he thought _he_ had _her_ loyalty. She was supposed to be under his control. She was supposed to be the perfect alibi.

But no, she was too busy huddling against that brother of his. Using his trial as an excuse to rub up against his brother! That shouldn't have happened. She should have been GRATEFUL to him for saving her and her sister. She should have been fawning all over HIM instead of that Munkustrap. But Munkustrap always got the attention. He always got the praise. And even though he spent so much energy trying to keep the prize of the queen Demeter away from the undeserving Munkustrap, just to see him boil in anger and writhe in agony, he still won in the end! No…that shouldn't be.

As he fumed and paced, staring at the junkyard that got darker with the end of the day coming near, he realized he had never found himself without a place to sleep. With a snort of annoyance, he trudged off, looking for a good place to rest. He could let his anger broil later…he would get them back.

* * *

Days past, and the new street cat found himself having trouble coping. Every time he tried to enter a place to sleep, it seemed another alley cat had that place taken already. Most of the time, his show of strength was enough, but there were times when he met a cat just as powerful as he was. Every time he lost, he didn't lose gracefully. He didn't like losing. It took him quite a while to figure out that there are times when you had to back down, which was something he despised.

Finding food was another thing. Digging out of garbage was not something he looked forward to, and often times half expected food to be laid out for him whenever he felt the slightest twinge of hunger. But no, there was no magic in the real world (Or Jennyanydots to provide food that he could steal from the younger kittens). Even his powers of levitation would not do the work of sifting through the garbage for him.

So it was a stroke of luck when he saw a human putting out food for some hungry kittens who seemed to frequent the area. _Perfect_. In his hunger for some real food, he tried the direct approach, waltzing right up to the food, causing some kittens to scatter. But the human who was feeding them did not like that at all. (After all, seeing a huge red and ginger cat strolling up, fur matted and in complete disarray, and with a look about him that said he would tear up your favorite teddy bear without a single qualm scared most humans.) When she whacked him with a broom, he was tempted to grab it and whack her back with it.

But no, he could hardly take on a human. So he went with what he did best.

He watched the kittens with a sinister smile as they went to enjoy their food. Then, the porch light flickered ominously before the entire bulb lit up extremely bright, and then exploded. The woman screeched and held up her hands to protect herself, while the kittens raced away as fast as they could.

When she looked back down, Macavity was very deliberately eating the food slowly, his eyes staring up at her as though to say, "Go ahead…try it again." The woman raced to grab her broom, but was completely astonished at the fact that it had been broken into five different pieces, and the bristles of the broom were littered across the room.

When the woman finally regained her senses, she saw that the cat, along with the bowl of food, was missing.

* * *

Slowly, the cat learned how to live as a stray. It seemed he was born to try his life on the streets, as he was growing stronger and more cunning. But he hated life outside of the junkyard all the same. In the junkyard, he had a lot of time to pass, sure, but he was hardly ever bored. Between learning of all the aspects of his power, how to gain respect, how to create alibi's, how to make others do what he wants with manipulation, thinking of new forms of humiliation and its appropriate alibi, building up strength, and putting his concepts into corporeal form, he never had a dull moment. And that mind of his was always working.

Of course, being on the streets spent a lot of energy he otherwise had pent up in him at the junkyard. But what he would have loved was a cross between the two, where he could use his mind _and_ his strength. He longed for this. With every cat he fought, he wished for security that he once knew. With every wound he cleaned, he wished he had time to truly clean them without having to worry about defending his new territory. Everyday, there was some new threat to his being, and the feeling of no respect and constant stress was getting to him.

So it was in this mind-numbing state of limbo, trapped between life and death everyday, pathetically wishing for more, that he ran into the problem that would change his life.

Dusk was coming, and his body that once felt like it could walk for days now felt in need of rest. When he was looking for a place to rest for the night, he realized that five cats had put themselves in his way. "Move," he said simply.

"Is this the one?" asked the biggest cat, a black cat with white paws that was very large and had one eye that seemed to be permanently shut. The old scratch marks around his face told Macavity what he needed to know…he was a _bad_ _fighter_.

"Yeah," said a calico cat that looked surprisingly familiar. When Macavity realized where he had seen this cat before, he felt the blood boil in his veins. The reason he had gotten kicked out of the tribe…and the pathetic kitten had the gall to survive!

The other cats knew what to do. They raced up to the ginger cat and grabbed him. They hardly needed to drag the cat who simply gave into the fact that the cats had ganged up on him. He wasn't going to waste his energy struggling against three cats he could easily beat in a "fair" fight.

Macavity was taken to a warehouse, two stories high, and lots of cats seemed to live here. The smell of rank garbage filled the air, but he hardly cared. He wanted to know what fate they had planned for him.

The white mittened cat smiled arrogantly as he took his place at the top of the window where he addressed his tribe. "This is the infamous cat that nearly killed one of our kittens. Today, that kitten is a cat, and has a chance to face the cat that nearly took his life. Tell me, what do you think of him now that he's outnumbered a hundred to one?"

The once bloody calico took a look at Macavity, smug and happy to see him put in his place. He took a swipe at Macavity, but he hardly moved at the fake threat. The other cats laughed, though, apparently thinking in their minds that he simply took the hit. The cat hadn't hit the ginger cat at all, and frankly, the Hidden Paw was not too happy at being laughed at. "He's not so tough anymore," the cat confessed to his leader.

"Do you want to fight him?" the mitten cat asked him. The other looked up at the leader in horror as the other cats laughed at him. The calico then slinked away. "I would ask you your name but it hardly matters. You're going to die in a few moments anyways."

By the looks of things, it seemed a few cats were waiting for the signal to attack. "You're not going to fight me yourself?" Macavity yelled up at the cat, suddenly frustrated. Imagine, trying to prove that he was this great leader of a tribe, and having others do the work? He thought the whole thing was ridiculous, and tried his best to goat the cat to look into his eyes. "Don't you think it a might cowardly to send others after your prey? A lion having the lionesses fight for him?" Obviously, they didn't get the analogy, for the cats stared blankly. Macavity let out a short sigh…they can't even pick up some of the garbage and learn how to read human language? (After you break the code, it's not that difficult…)

"I'm saying you're having your queens do the work for you while you sit on your tail all day and take all the glory!" A few of the queens nearby made a huff, staring up at their leader as though seeing him in a new light. One of the cats who standing by, ready to maul him, happened to be a queen. She seemed to disappear into the crowd after that statement.

"I'm not a coward," the cat said hotly. He then turned around and jumped down from his windowsill. Things were quiet for a moment as they waited for the leader to come out the front door. They waited a few moments, Macavity looking bored and waiting for the white-pawed cat's grand entrance. Finally, he came out the door with an arrogant look on his face.

"Scared of heights?" Macavity asked the cat smugly. The cat glared with his one good eye. "You could have easily leaped from that pile of boxes down onto those crates and onto the garbage can, without having to go around and take the stairs," Macavity pointed out each item as he said it, and some of the cats in the tribe laughed before biting back their amusement. The leader in question looked up at what the ginger cat referred to, before turning his poorly hidden embarrassment into anger.

"I'll fight you right here," the white-pawed cat said. Macavity inwardly mocked the genetically bred mittens on the cats' coat, but didn't want to waste his breath on this meaningless feline. It was time to fight this overgrown house cat, and show him who was superior.

* * *

It was there that the lady Griddlebone first saw Macavity. She had crept out of her tiny hole and looked down at the cat who dared to insult and then take on the leader of her tribe. She was hardly as glamorous as she would later appear, as she had been dragged about for the sake of her beautiful fur. She had a clever mind in that pretty head of hers, and the other cats hated her for it. Before Macavity came into the tribe, wits were something that only humans had. Strength was all that mattered to these cats, and Griddlebone was definitely on the lower half of that spectrum.

The white cat seemed to be alone in the warehouse as all the cats had rushed outside to see the fall of a strong cat. The fight was bloody, and the tall and thin ginger cat proved himself to be very strong. But the leader of their tribe did not want to lose. If he lost in front of all of his subordinates, it would be a fate worse than death. And so, the black and white leader fought the bright ginger and red cat, both stained in blood and riddled with scratches, until Macavity went in for the kill, biting the leader in the neck. The cat went lifeless, and all the cats in the junkyard watched in shock that their leader had been killed.

In the tense moments that followed, Macavity stared down at the work he had done. Griddlebone could recognize the look on his face. It was the first time he had killed another cat. She saw it many times in this tribe. (It was the reactions that were always different, though.) And this cat, though he seemed to be such a fiendish, terrible cat, couldn't grasp at the moment what he had done. She may have known nothing about him, but she knew she had to do something before he showed his weakness to the rest of the tribe and be killed right then and there.

Jumping out the window, onto the path Macavity had previously pointed out, Griddlebone risked her safety in this one gamble. This cat (the one that would soon rise to be the Napoleon of crime) could change this tribe, could save her well-being. If either of them made the wrong move in this moment of mass shock, they would both die.

Griddlebone stood next to the bloody cat, not caring that her white coat got stained in red. She lifted his paw and spoke in a voice she didn't realize she had. "This cat has rightfully challenged the tribe leader and came out the victor. He has proved himself the strongest cat in the tribe, and as such, should become our leader. Those who do not agree will face the wrath of the new leader." Not giving them a choice seemed the best way to go about it, while they were all in a haze at the death of their tribe head. Giving them the thought of a new reign was a risk, but it was all she could think of in the chaos of loss that could save them.

Slowly, the faces of the cats that surrounded the two seemed to grasp what had happened, and complied with their new leadership. When all the cats had seemed to agree, the only noise that could be heard was the whimpering of the calico that inadvertently caused the death of his leader.

Griddlebone looked Macavity over, who seemed to have regained his composure. He looked over to her in a look of what seemed to be relief. There were things said, orders wrung out, compliances, and subservience. But neither cat remembered that. All they remembered was that was the night both their lives changed.

One for the better.

One for the worse.

* * *

_A/N: Please don't be confused by the fact that it's now focusing on Macavity even though it's Demeter's life. It ties back to her, I swear! Hehe...((nervous laugh))_

_Satin: Is this fast enough update? ((rubs her arm where she was prodded))  
Demo: Wow! You got it right off the bat, the whole Macavity thing. ((But I say too much!)) And I love Rumpleteazer too. She's such a cutey, and my favorite female. So yeah, I'll use her as much as I can ((wink))  
Krissy4: I've had that glitch before...that's the whole reason I created an account to begin with, hehe. And it still didn't take my review. ((comfort)) Well, now I have anonymous reviews. I didn't realize you could fix that. It's kinda like how I recently discovered the "stats" function. LOVE IT! Makes me very happy. Lol, and I thought you would hate me for making them brother and sister. But I was wrong...Must work on my assumptions._


	20. An Unsure Thing

**Chapter 20 – An Unsure Thing**

Macavity sat in Griddlebone's new accommodations. She suddenly had a new respect from the tribe, and her coat had never looked cleaner. Items were beginning to accumulate behind her. The ginger cat was sure that it was due to the cards she was shuffling in her paws. Macavity had heard of her skills, and decided to try a game of cards with her. "Well, well, well, the tribe leader coming to greet me? You should be careful…they already think that we're mates. Do you want to fan the flames?"

"You seem to benefit from that rumor," Macavity said dryly. As leader of a tribe, he had a lot of learning to do. When to fight, when not to. What he could do to keep the cats happy, and when he had to let it be. What actions would cause them to turn against them, and how to keep them in order. The only problem was that all Macavity knew was how to rule by fear and strength. He was fine when ordering them to take out his clever crimes, and they seemed to appreciate his mind like the Jellicle tribe never could. But after having killed a cat for the first time…though he had meant to do it so long ago that one night in the junkyard…he never knew it could feel so hideous. That act in itself had felt like he had stained his body for life, a stain he could wash and lick and try and tend to all his life, and wouldn't go away. The only way he could cover that up was by being more violent, covering up the old stains with a fresh splash of blood, but the scarlet color that stained his soul continued to grow darker and darker. And he couldn't stop.

"What have you come here for? Aside from losing a game of cards?" Griddlebone put a paw to her mouth, feigning remorse. "Perhaps I shouldn't say it like that. Word might spread, and no one would bet against me. Oh, wait…they're all too stupid to know the difference."

"Can it be called a game if we both keep cheating?" Macavity asked. Griddlebone considered this particularly funny and began laughing.

"It's not the game I'm used to. But two cheaters cheating against each other have their own fun trying to figure out how cheat their equal."

"You consider yourself equal to me?" Macavity seemed to growl.

"In wits, perhaps. In strength, not even close. In cheating, we shall see." Macavity appreciated this Persian. She was beautiful and clever. Perhaps she was too clever for her own good, but he found her good to have around. She was sane, unlike the others. (Or perhaps she was just as insane as he was.)

As she passed out the cards, she smiled at the ginger cat. "What made you come here? I've heard all the stories. You used to be the protector of your tribe until they exiled you for nearly killing our little calico. But what brought you here?" The cat glared at her. "Were you always so clever? So violent?" Macavity shot up and grabbed the queen by the neck. The state of his violent nature was a sensitive issue at the time, as it was slowly eating away at him.

The queen grabbed the paw to loosen it, staring up at the cat in some surprise. After a few moments, Macavity got control of himself and sat back down as the queen gasped for air. "Okay," she said after she caught her breath. "You don't like talking about your past. But you could have killed me easily, and you didn't."

Macavity stared at this queen who was so defiant against him. The challenge from her wasn't like anything he had to face before, as she fought with dialogue rather than bear her painted claws. This was a battle Macavity never had to deal with before, and he hardly knew how to handle it. "I owe you my life," he said to the queen.

"You're welcome," the queen said with a proud smile.

"I never said thank you," Macavity glared. The queen sank back slightly for the look in his eye. He soon got up and left, leaving the queen speechless in a room full of cold, unfeeling objects.

* * *

Despite what Macavity thought of the queen, he found her the perfect cat to play cards with, a game he missed. It was due to this that after many, many card games, the queen knew a little of the ginger cat's history. Macavity hardly meant to tell her so much, but the queen asked so many questions, he had to answer some to shut her up. 

"So these two queens of yours that got you kicked out," she began one particular conversation with. Macavity's eye twitched at the topic. "You talk about them a lot."

"They are easy to spot in the junkyard," Macavity said. He then twitched his ear at the thought that he might have given away too much information.

"You spy on them," Griddlebone stated, suddenly getting interested. "Since when did you go from stifling pekes to becoming a peeping tom?"

There was a moment when Macavity seemed to stiffen at the accusation. True, he had been spying on the Jellicle Tribe recently. And while he despised them, there was something else there, something he missed. "I'm going back," he told her.

"You're going back?" Griddlebone asked.

"I'm going back," he said, very determined. He got up, left the cards where they were, and left.

* * *

Griddlebone looked down at the gold and black queen, as she was unconscious on the floor of Macavity's den. "Why is she unconscious again?" 

Macavity seemed to be trying to get his answer straight. He opened his mouth, but closed it as he couldn't get the words out. He twitched his ear, thought about it, then tried to answer again. But the words refused to be spoken, and he—

"JUST ANSWER THE QUESTION!" Griddlebone said impatiently. She bent down and touched the young queen on the arm, knowing full well it might have been the last caring touch she would ever feel. She felt it a shame that she was unconscious for it.

"She fell out of hypnosis," he said, as though that were supposed to explain everything. (This was the first Griddlebone had ever heard anything about hypnosis.)

"So you panicked?" she concluded. The ginger cat glared at her, but she was used to his glares now. "You don't just kit-nap a cat, Macavity," she said quickly.

"You never had a problem otherwise," Macavity spat back at the queen. Griddlebone liked it when she could get a rise out of him. She prided herself as the only cat to get him to argue with her like a normal cat. It was the only thing she could take pride in, though. He wasn't interested in her at all. She couldn't figure out why, though. She could turn her charms on for most of the toms, especially that Mungojerrie. But Macavity, she learned to treat differently. They made an odd pair.

"She's part of the Jellicle Tribe, Mac." He particularly hated when she called him that, but he learned not to attack her for it. Intimidation meant nothing to her. "From what I've heard and what I've seen, they're a very small tribe…gentle. Their leader has done a lot for the surrounding tribes." The look from Macavity told her that she was crossing a line she shouldn't cross. So she quickly changed her perspective. "_A gentle tribe_. She'll die here."

"She won't die," Macavity said quickly. "She'll get stronger." Griddlebone could see him stiffen at the thought. The Persian went on to elaborate, hopefully to get him to bring the queen back to her tribe, but he turned and left. Griddlebone sighed, looked at the queen, shrugged her shoulders, and patted her on the arm again before going back to her den. She had her own life to live, and if this new queen was going to become part of the tribe, she would have to deal with everything herself. No one helped each other in this tribe, and that's one lesson Griddlebone learned the hard way.

* * *

The white Persian went to see Macavity later into the night. When she saw the cat, he was awake, looking out the window to the sky. "What are you watching the sky for?" she asked. "Wishing on a star?" She smirked. 

"The alignment of the stars can tell a lot," he said, ignoring the queen's comment.

"And what are you reading about DEMETER's future?" Griddlebone was a little peeved at the tom. "Demeter? That's the queen? She was so pretty, I thought her to be that Bombalurina. But no, it's Demeter. The one you talk about all the time. Well, when you talk about your old tribe, at least…"

"I've mentioned her three times," he said, walking over to his chair and jumping up on it. (Apparently, he slept there.)

Griddlebone could feel the jealousy weld up in her. "You talk about her more than any other cat in the tribe. I've talked to you a million times, and when I say talk, those are usually one-sided conversations. So someone mentioned three times when you've never even said my name more than once, if even that, is something." She stared at the cat, who stared angrily back. "You said there were two queens! Two! But you brought one queen back. You brought one queen here to live in this tribe. What is it about her? Why her?"

The ginger cat remained quiet, but that didn't keep Griddlebone from filling in the blanks. "You love to hate and hate to love. Hate is something you can understand, as it was easy for you. But love is too fragile, so you took pride in never having to feel it. It wasn't something a strong cat had, in your opinion. So I let it go. I thought you'd hate me too. But then I see you bring that wretched little queen here…What is it about both of us wanting what we can't have?"

Griddlebone wasn't one to cry, but she felt like she was getting to that point. When Macavity got up and jumped off the chair he sat in, the Persian saw this as a good sign. He walked over to her slowly, deliberately, in what the white queen assumed to be her getting through to him. When he reached out a paw to her, she felt a shiver go down her spine.

He grabbed the new collar around her neck and pulled it tightly, cutting off her air supply. She tried to gasp for air as she stared into the cat's eyes. He had that murderous glare he got when he stared at a cat that had crossed some line or another. "Whose collar is this?" he asked. She clawed deeply into his paws to make him let go, but he wasn't budging. Finally, she made to scratch at his face, but he pushed her away before she could. When she gasped for air, she started to cry as well. That's when he said to her in an ominous voice, "You're not above punishment just because you're you."

Griddlebone knew she would surely die. She didn't want to think of what the tribe would do to her. She was hated by them once. Then they were forced to "love" her, a card she played to its full advantage. Now that they would be given permission to hate her again, she could see them all attacking her at once. She didn't dare take that vision any further.

"Macavity?" A young female cat walked in, seeming very brave in the presence of a murderer. Griddlebone quickly got up, adjusting her fur and turning to wipe the tears from her eyes.

Macavity looked over at the female, who dared not look him in the eyes. "There is a cat that has been caught with the members of a rival tribe." (Really, all the tribes were rival tribes.) "We think he was looking to ditch. What shall we do with him?"

Macavity looked over to Griddlebone, who was breathing hard from her ordeal. He then looked back at the cat. "We'll punish him tomorrow in the afternoon. You know what to do." The cat nodded her head before leaving.

Griddlebone didn't bother to look up at Macavity. (He wasn't looking at her either way.) As she crept out of his den, she gave a jittery sigh of relief. "Thank the Everlasting Cat for redirection," she said to herself.

The Persian didn't go to watch the execution the next day. She'd seen too many in her life. And she hardly wanted to see the one that was meant to be hers.

* * *

Macavity thought back to Demeter. The look on her face when she saw his tribe execute one of their own could almost make him laugh if the situation had been funny. But no. He had enough of killing. But he certainly did not want to appear weak. So why was he feeling so weak all of a sudden? 

He had just proven his strength against the other cats. He had again shown them his ability to lead. He had done this all a million times before. He was beginning to numb the feeling of taking a life. But why did he feel so weak _now_?

That look on her face could have been laughable. At least, it could have been if she thought him justified in his actions. But he knew she hated him for it.

Day after day, she came back to his den, never smiling. Every day she became meeker and meeker. Scratches and bite wounds accumulated on her body, and yet she didn't become what he thought she would become. And this bothered him. Why wasn't she becoming like him? Here she was, a cat who was never rescued by the members of the tribe that claimed to love her (as he reminded her every day), and still, she withdrew.

Maybe Griddlebone was right.

No, he was right to bring her here. She had to grow a back bone. She had to be here.

But why did he bring her here again?

He remembered the thought of wanting something more. But what was it? Many cats in this tribe spoke of having mates, but he had never taken much interest. The idea never really intrigued him, but now, the more he thought of it, the more appealing it seemed. But not just with any cat.

"Demeter?" Macavity began as the queen seemed to be wasting away on the window sill. She lifted her weary head and looked over to the cat, surprised he was speaking to her. "It has come to my attention that the other cats don't like you." The gold and black queen stared back, as though to say, 'You only now noticed?' "If they leave Griddlebone because they think she is my mate, then they should leave you alone if they _know_ _you are my mate._ So…I've decided to make you my mate."

Demeter stared at the cat in shock. "What?" she asked.

"You are my mate," he said, going back to his long division sums.

"No!" the queen said quite forcefully, causing Macavity to look up at her in some bewilderment. "Is that why you brought me here? I've been here for months. I miss my family. I miss my sister. I miss…" She looked out the window nervously before turning back to the cat. "I want to go home. I don't want to be your mate! You kit-napped me! I want to go home!"

Macavity glared at the queen who would dare defy him. Demeter stared back in horror. She was thin, weak, bruised, scratched, bitten, but she didn't fight back. And now she decides to fight back? With words? "Let me get this straight," said the ginger cat in an eerie voice that made Demeter shrink back and curl into a tiny ball. He felt like a he had been hit in the stomach by the frail queen. "I give you an opportunity to avoid being attacked by the members of my tribe, by simply making you my mate, and you say you're homesick?" He slowly strode closer to the queen.

"You miss your family? The family that sent me out on the streets to die? You miss your sister? The sister that wouldn't save me from my fate? You miss…what was the last one you meant to say? Munkustrap? WAS THAT THE ONE YOU MEANT TO SAY?" At this, Demeter covered her head as the ginger cat towered over her. He whipped his paw out so fast above her head in an attempt to scare her that it broke the window she was next to. The gold queen shrieked and raced away from the window sill, but before she could leave his den, he blocked her way.

"He hasn't even come for you," he hissed at her. "Out of the junkyard, out of mind. And you sit here like the kitten you are and cry that you want him to come after you? You may never have liked me, but you always knew I was right, Demeter. I've always told you the bitter truth. That brother of mine won't come here to save you. He never will. And that sister of yours will leave you here to bleed. I'm you're only salvation." The blood was boiling as he thought of that wretched silver tabby that dared think himself a protector.

"Let me go," she whispered in fear, ears back and eyes wide and glistening with tears. "I can't take it anymore. Just let me go." Macavity looked at the frail form in front of him. Pathetic. Maybe she deserved to die from his tribe. Maybe he shouldn't have been so kind as to save her. Stepping aside, he let the sobbing form go.

It was after tearing apart his den, breathing heavily and shaking angrily that a strange truth seemed to wash over him.

* * *

He sat across Griddlebone, staring at her collection. He hadn't talked to her for months after the incident with her in his den. But now, he just needed the presence of another cat, as he felt the final string about to be cut on his sanity. The queen remained silent, but looked just as sad as he did. 

It wasn't all too clear to him why he took Demeter in the first place. His motive was clear at the time: kit-nap the queen, as she was much loved in the tribe. The others would be hurt by this, and none more than Munkustrap. He could imagine his grief and worry, and reveled in finally having taught his brother a lesson. He could see Old Deuteronomy getting weaker at the thought of losing a beloved little queen he liked to think of as his kitten. And it would be the _piece de resistance_ that the sweet little queen would not be able to be found. They would all lose in the end. They exiled him in exchange for losing the queen, Demeter. But he could have done that with most any queen. The only thing that made him more apt to take the black and gold in particular, as he convinced himself, was Munkustrap's obvious adoration of her.

But there was more, as he now realized. Surrounded by betrayal, disappointment, cold, unfeeling artifacts of his past crimes, and death, he had everything he ever wanted: power, respect, and the wave of a paw that could make any cat do his bidding. All this meant nothing. He was still numb. Why was he still numb?

Death does that to you. The taking of a life brings death to the soul, and he was trapped in a world of blood. But the golden light was supposed to save him. The warmth of a gentle cat he once knew, the reminder of everything he once had, was supposed to be enough to wash everything away. And she was supposed to cure him, be with him, forever and ever. Like a child greedy to keep his toy in his possession.

But she failed to heal him, and while he _could_ blame the queen for it, he couldn't bear to hurt her again. Everything else made him feel numb. Hurting her made him feel anger…pain… He just couldn't hurt her again. But he couldn't let her go.

Not until the moment that that last string will snap. Not until the last candle dies out. She needed to live. _And she needed to stay with him_. If that light ever left him, he would surely go mad.

* * *

_Ultra Special Blah Blah Blah:_

_ OH MY GOD! Trying to type right now is very difficult...I have a wrist band on cause I over-typed this weekend. So it's getting in the way of my typing, and deleting things I don't want deleted! I need to take a break, lol. Oh, and I wrote ahead to chapter 22, and I have to warn you all now, it's kinda violent...You have been warned!  
_

_Demo: I'm sure that's not what you had in mind about Griddlebone and Macavity...And I hope you don't mind that it's violent. It will get...well...you'll see!  
Krissy4: I'm glad you find it interesting, because BA-BA! Here's some more!  
Enkeli: You like the kitty so much...you know what? Here... ((hands you the calico)) I don't need him anymore.  
Tiger Lily21: Aww, thank you so much for reviewing! It makes me happy. And I took off the Ultra Special Blah x3 cause it got a bit much to keep writing over and over again. But look! Back by popular demand!_

_Thanks to all my reviewers...things were deleted once, so i had to rewrite my A/N...I was very annoyed... _


	21. Of a Name

**Chapter 21 – The Power of a Name  
**

Demeter raced down the warehouse she had long become familiar with, going the long way back to the twin's den. She had been in this domain for weeks turned into months. Each day, she was meant to go to Macavity's den. (She didn't know what he would do if she didn't.) But most often, she would simply stay by his side, being his company as she had done before when they were in the tribe together. He never made a move to harm her, do anything to her, and since she could no longer be his alibi for him, she could only wonder what his intentions were for bringing her here. But today, he made his intentions clear. And she wanted nothing to do with it.

As she raced across the warehouse, tears streaming down her face, she remembered a few incidences in which he seemed almost normal. There were times her would talk to her about things he otherwise deemed pointless (though it was rare for this to happen). Sometimes, it seemed she was just there to relax him with her presence. But there was one incident that she remembered being exhausted from the tribe's goings on, and dared to drift off to sleep in Macavity's presence. She thought it was a dream, but she felt him brush his paw against her head. His presence felt close the entire time, her eyes closed to it all, but she could feel him staring at her. The ginger cat hardly gave off his normal scary aura, but felt instead exhausted, sad, and pitiful. Demeter felt like crying in what she thought was a dream.

When the queen arrived back to where the twin's den was, there were a few cats staring at her, smiling to one another. The queen felt the need to scratch their faces, but wouldn't dare do that again. She was far outnumbered. So she simply walked past them, trying to keep her tail perpendicular, while the others chuckled as though they were going to do something to her. She tried not to let their intimidation get to her, but found herself racing into the den either way.

She was hardly safe there yet, as it would be a while before Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer come home. They had things they needed to do, as they explained to her in those first few days of latching on to one or the other, begging them not to go. Rumpleteazer finally had to take her aside and explain to her that she couldn't go with them, but as long as she avoided one scenario or the other, she should be fine.

But Demeter knew the cats that wished to do harm to her always knew where to find her. They seemed to smell fear. In the morning, they often chased her out of her own adopted den. The only time they left her alone was when she was close to Macavity's den. There was one incident where Macavity actually witnessed a cat picking on Demeter. Before that cat knew it, he was thrown across the room. He got up and limped off, as not to take any more of Macavity's wrath. And while that impressed Demeter and made her give a sigh of relief for a moment, the fact that she had Macavity's backing only seemed to make them hate her more. And it didn't help when the ginger cat would "lecture" her not unlike a scary father to his frightened child, about becoming one of the tribe.

Kittens threw things at her. Toms would harass her. But queens seemed the most annoyed. They took to slashing at her when she walked by. Her nerves were always on end, and as she sat in the barrel of the twins, waiting for a poke or a jab or a scare to come her way, she took comfort in a nervous habit of licking at her paw.

This habit seemed to derive from another habit she had long done away with. On nights when she first had hope, she would repeat the name over and over in her head. "Munkustrap…Munkustrap…Munkustrap…" but he would never come and save her. None of the Jellicles would come. (That thought in itself made her cry herself to sleep most nights). So her prayers turned into a nervous chant, and that chant soon dissolved into a nervous licking at her paws. She was becoming furless on her left paw and arm…

She had even more to worry about now. She just waited for the moment Macavity would come to find her and drag her away, forcing her to be his mate. He was bound to…she knew he would…_she knew it_.

After what seemed to be forever (but in actuality was only a few hours), Mungojerrie entered the den, smiling behind him to his sister. He then stopped cold at seeing Demeter. "Demetah?" Mungojerrie asked, shocked. "What's wrong?" He dropped his bag of loot and raced over to her side. Rumpleteazer peeked in before putting a paw over her mouth and racing over to the queen.

"Stop that," Rumpleteazer said, worried. "Look at your paw. You're gunna lick it raw!" The tabby forcibly pulled the gold and black queen's head away from her paw. "What 'appened to you? You look awful! Did one of the cats do somethin' to ya?"

Demeter nodded, but knew the two could hardly do anything to help. They could never face Macavity. "I need to go home," she said. "I can't take it anymore. I need to go home. I want my family. I want my friends. I want my sister. I need…I need…I need…" the two tabbies curled up close and hugged the frightened queen. Demeter was grateful someone cared. Not like her family at home…wait, she shouldn't be thinking that way. She missed them! She did… "I need my collar," she said finally.

The two tabbies looked at Demeter in surprise. It wasn't something the queen expect herself to say, but once she did, she realized how much she missed it and how much it meant to her. She needed her collar. She felt so naked without it. "Please. Let's go to Griddlebone. I know I can get it back! I know I can."

The brother and sister looked at each other. Mungojerrie was trying to look innocent to his sister, in a way that made sure to tell her, "_It wasn't my idea_!"

* * *

Demeter sat in Griddlebone's den, her collection of pretty things now overflowing. On her neck was the collar that Demeter came to get. She was still wearing it after all this time? It was hardly that glamorous… "What do you want?" Griddlebone seemed to speak with more bite in her voice than the last time she saw the little queen. She seemed to pity Demeter, but hate her at the same time. (She was very used to that look from the nonviolent ones in the tribe.)

"I came to get my collar back," Demeter said. Rumpleteazer and Mungojerrie were on either side of the queen, Rumpleteazer glaring while Mungojerrie seemed excited by seeing a card game again. Griddlebone tossed back her head and sighed, showing off the collar on her neck.

"What exactly do you plan to barter with, kitten? You don't even have the fur on your paws anymore, let alone something I would want in exchange for your _trinket_." Demeter stared at the queen who was smiling arrogantly at her. She could almost feel the hate emanating from the white Persian's body. But that didn't stop her from being right. Demeter had nothing in this tribe, not even an ounce of respect.

"I'll bet my collah," Mungojerrie said proudly, quickly taking off his star and diamond decorated collar. He smiled over to Demeter, but when he looked up to Rumpleteazer, she was giving him an admonishing look.

"Thank you," Demeter said, feeling a twinge of guilt. She did have something after all… But Griddlebone clutched onto Demeter's collar, staring at the tabby tom's collar with a look of longing in her eyes. Though it was ratty and worn, it had cuter decorations on it, which surely had Griddlebone's mouth watering.

But she shook her head, peeling her eyes away from the collar. "I happen to like this collar, _Pumpkin_. You have to do better than that."

"My name is Demeter," said the queen with a more forceful voice than she realized she could muster.

" 'ow about my collah, too?" Rumpleteazer offered, looking over to her brother for support.

"What makes you think I want a collar for a collar?" Griddlebone asked, throwing Mungojerrie's collar back to him.

"Aw, come on, Griddlebone," Mungojerrie said, tossing his paws in the air. "It's not like you've got anythin' to lose. I was 'er collah to begin with!" But the white Persian turned her body and looked off, pretending she hadn't heard the tom. Letting out a sigh of frustration, the tabby tom took out a pearl necklace and placed it down on the table. Griddlebone's eyes lit up while the two other queen's jaws dropped.

"Where did ya get that, Jerrie?" Rumpleteazer asked, astonished.

"Oh, ya know…around." He turned to the white queen and smiled mischievously. "What about now? Looks pretty good, huh?" Griddlebone seemed to be waging a war within herself, absentmindedly pulling at the collar on her neck. She was practically salivating.

"No," she said, finally, forcing herself to look away. The three betting cats looked stunned. "The little kitten bet her collar, and now I have it. She has to do without it."

"It's DEMETER!" said the queenn, shooting up, her eyes glistening with tears. Griddlebone looked at the queen a surprised look. "I let the other cats push me around because I'm not as strong as them. But I won't let a fraud steal from me. All you know how to do is gamble, and frankly, I don't know why you're here. To trick other people? I don't care. But I'm not going to let you get away with it with _my collar_. That's my name. My memory. My name is Demeter. Not Kitten. Not even Pumpkin. My mother gave me _that_ name, if nothing else, and I'm proud of it. And I won't let you steal it away."

Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer shuffled their feet at the discomfort in the room just then as the two queens stared each other down. (All this over a spiked and jeweled collar that named a cat after a squash?) But Demeter knew that even though they had met only twice, they shared a lot of history. This came down to a fight that had nothing to do with ownership.

"Fine," the white Persian finally said, signaling Mungojerrie to put the necklace down. She then took off the collar, keeping close to her side of the table. The queen then shuffled the cards quickly and dealt them out. "You know, Macavity only wants you here because he doesn't know what he wants himself." Demeter would have loved to tell the queen to shut up, but she was more intrigued on hearing what she had to say. So as the game went on, Griddlebone kept talking, as was her way. "But no one wants you to be here, least of all you. The only one who wants you here is the one cat who can't let you go."

Demeter looked up in shock at the queen, but the sour expression on her face told her she would say nothing more of that. "Seventeen," Griddlebone said as Demeter showed her cards. "While dealer has Twenty! Guess that means you lose!" She grabbed up the collar in a big show, and then reached over to grab the pearl necklace.

This was her chance. Reaching over quickly, the black and gold queen ruffled the volumous fur around the white queen's neck. Cards flew out of the unsuspecting cheater's coat, along with quite a few gold coins and small jewels. The white queen squealed, covering herself as though she were just stripped naked. Again, Mungojerrie yelled, "I KNEW IT!" Rumpleteazer pointed at the queen in shock, then began laughing her head off.

"You little brat!" Griddlebone yelled before snatching up the aces, kings, queens, and jacks she kept hidden in her fur.

Demeter found herself smiling while Rumpleteazer patted her on the back, saying something about revealing a cheater. Mungojerrie was yelling something at Griddlebone about giving all his things back. But Demeter had something else in mind. She grabbed up the deck of cards and forcefully put them into Mungojerrie's paws. "Check them," she said quickly, before turning to Griddlebone. "One last game, high card wins. But if I win, you have to give back my collar and all the things you stole from them."

"They stole all their stuff to begin with," The Persian reasoned, glaring at the queen. Demeter glared back. "Oh, come now, you think that after dealing day after day with Macavity, I would be scared of _you_?" Demeter continued to stare at Griddlebone. "FINE! But WHEN I win, you have to stay away from me and Macavity. And I not only get to keep your collar, but get the collars of your two _friends_ here."

Demeter opened her mouth to respond, but stopped herself, thinking it was probably best to ask the opinion of the two tabbies. But she didn't need to. At the same time, the duo placed their collars on the table. Demeter looked up at the two in shock, but Mungojerrie simply handed back the cards. "Good luck, love." He said. Rumpleteazer nodded in agreement.

The two queens faced each other, both taking in deep sighs. Rumpleteazer went over to the white queen and checked to see if she had any more cards hidden. She found three more cards, two diamonds, five rubies, one sapphire, two rings, seven gold coins, and an earring missing its pair. (Demeter saw Rumpleteazer gingerly sneak the sapphire away.) The Jellicle took a shaky breath before grabbing a card. She looked at it at the same time as the other two did before they all bit their lips. "Seven," Demeter announced, showing it to Griddlebone.

Griddlebone smiled, before grabbing a card out of the deck. She held it up with pride. Then her face fell. (And if it was possible, it went even whiter.) The twin tabbies had placed themselves behind the queen. Rumpleteazer grabbed the card as Mungojerrie screamed, "WE WON!"

"It's a TWO!" Rumpleteazer smiled, jumping up and down. Griddlebone sat back down, looking far less graceful than she usually did. "So sorry, love," Rumpleteazer said. "But it looks like frauds make their own luck because they 'ave none of their own."

Demeter grabbed up her collar from the queen and rubbed it against her cheek before putting it on proudly, as the twins claimed what was there. Griddlebone was glaring at the queen, but Demeter didn't care. For the first time in a long time, she was smiling with reason. "Don't worry," she said to Griddlebone while the two were preoccupied. "I don't plan on going anywhere near you two again." Griddlebone considered the queen for a moment, before sighing and waving her off.

* * *

"That was great!" Rumpleteazer was placing things around her den. "I was wonderin' where this was! Jerrie, why did ya give up my winter vest? This is so snuggly warm." She purred as she nuzzled the vest. Mungojerrie was too busy tossing up one of his favorite cat toys he had given up in a bet. "This calls for a celebration!" With that, Rumpleteazer raced out of the den without saying goodbye. Demeter was a little annoyed when she did that, but the queen tabby often had the best of intentions.

Mungojerrie raced over to Demeter and nuzzled her, surprising the queen. "Do you know 'ow long I've been waitin' to get this back?" He chuckled to himself as he tossed up a mouse-shaped catnip toy, catching it in his mouth, leaning back and purring. "I'll nevah let ya go again, Colonel Squeakers."

While she was glad she could finally pay them back for what they had done for her, she was also felt very sad. She knew she couldn't stay here any longer. She didn't want to leave her two new friends, but she knew it was now or never. While planning her escape in her head, she could see all the ways she would get caught, and could see the horrors that awaited her. For a moment, one brief moment, she saw Munkustrap jumping into the rescue, carrying her off in his strong arms, and she would be safe again in her Jellicle tribe.

Then tears began to run down her cheeks as she pushed the thought out of her mind. What was she thinking? They hadn't come at all for her. Not even a sighting…not one word. And she had no idea where she was. The only way she could see escape now was through the death she foresaw in her future. Pushing away that thought, another thought crept into her head, and suddenly she felt so betrayed. Her life shouldn't be ended by this tribe. _Her_ _tribe should fight for her_. Bombalurina should be here to comfort her. Munkustrap should have found a way to rescue her.

Then Demeter wanted to kick herself for being so weak, that she could never defend herself. She had always thought someone would be there to defend her. Of course not. But it seemed that someone would always be there to abandon her. She just didn't expect it from those she considered family. How could they just leave her here?

"Demetah?" Rumpleteazer had come back in, and had placed food in front of the queen. Mungojerrie shot up from his post catnip euphoria and looked around, puzzled. "What are ya cryin' for? Ya got your collah back. I brought ya your favorite! I stole it thinkin' of you!"

"They won't come," Demeter said, tears streaming down her eyes from where her train of thought had taken her. Mungojerrie got up quickly and closed the entrance to the barrel so the other cats wouldn't see her cry. "They abandoned me. I was supposed to be safe with them. I trusted them. But they won't come."

"What? You're friends? Maybe they just don' know you're 'ere!" Mungojerrie offered.

"She said he would come for me," Demeter sobbed, trying to stop this ridiculous crying. But she couldn't help it. She had tried so long to keep from thinking too much about what had happened to her, what she had seen, what she was trapped in, but now everything was hitting her hard, and it seemed her life had long fallen apart. "If I just called for him... I was so naïve. I thought I was safe." The queen curled up in a ball and shook with sobs.

"Well," Rumpleteazer didn't know what it was to have friends, just her brother. So this was all new to her. What to say, what to say… "If they aren' coming for ya, we'll keep you safe. You can be like the our sistah! Huh, Mungo?"

"I wanted that food." Mungojerrie said absentmindedly, reaching for the food in front of Demeter. Rumpleteazer pursed her lips and snatched it up.

"It's fo' Demetah. She'll eat it when she's ready!" Rumpleteazer liked this thought of having a sister. "Don' worry, love. Macavity can only do so much. He's really a coward takin' ya here. Everyone else joined because they wanted to. Well...sometimes. Why'd he bring ya here anyways?" (That was the question of the day…)

But Demeter seemed to already have fallen asleep. "Poor thin'," Rumpleteazer whispered, covering the queen up in a blanket. "She's not doin' well, Mungo."

"Is she sick?" the other cat whispered, a look of surprise in his eyes. "Cause I don' wanna catch it." He backed away from Demeter.

"No," Rumpleteazer said, throwing a balled up piece of paper at her brother. "An' yes. She's heartbroken. Her family abandoned 'er." Rumpleteazer petted Demeter, who seemed to startle at the touch. Rumpleteazer whispered an apology at the exhausted queen, but Demeter laid her head down and closed her eyes, quickly going back to sleep.

"We know what that's like," Mungojerrie said softly, taking Demeter's food and looking it over. He then sighed and put the food back down. He wasn't hungry anymore. Rumpleteazer made a soft sobbing sound, before crawling over to her brother, trying not to let her emotions get the best of her. She rubbed up against him, laying her head against his fur. "It's ok, sis. You're safe to cry in 'ere." Rumpleteazer bit her lip, but a few tears managed to trickle down her cheeks and onto Mungojerrie's coat.

After a long quiet, two siblings laying against each other as though they were the only things that would hold the other up, Rumpleteazer hoisted herself up and sighed. "We should take 'er back, Jerrie," Rumpleteazer said decidedly. "She's bettah there than she evah would be 'ere."

"What about Macavity?" Mungojerrie asked louder than he meant to. The sound of the name made the cat curled in the corner spasm before relaxing again. Rumpleteazer gave her brother a scolding look to which he apologized softly. "But 'e'll kill us if we take 'er away!"

"We don' need 'im to survive anymore, Jerrie! We only came 'ere cause we were too young to take care of ourselves. Now look at us! We're the best thieves in the 'ole tribe! An' she needs us, Jerrie." Mungojerrie looked at the queen who was unlike any other cat he met in his life in Macavity's tribe. She was sweet, gentle, and too honest for her own good…A fair contrast to the ginger cat in question. But if he was going to try and leave her to the dregs of the tribe, then neither Mungojerrie nor Rumpleteazer could stand by and watch that happen. She was not about to mold to the cat Macavity wanted her to be, and was surely about to break.

"Tomorraw," Mungojerrie said to his sister. Her eyes lit up with excitement and anxiety. "Tomorraw we'll get 'er out of 'ere, and nevah come back again!" Rumpleteazer squealed with excitement before making herself calm. Then the two looked around their den. They had a lot of work to do to get all their stuff out that night…

* * *

_A/N: For those of you wondering, it will mainly focus on Demeter now. Um...I can't say anymore, because I would give it away.  
_

_Demo: ((hugs)) You made my day with that review! And yes, that's what my friend said about villains as well. They're my favorite, aside from "Hey, I'm here to hurt you" villains. I was bred on anime, though, so it comes second nature, heh.  
Satin: If you speak nice of Macavity, I have done my job and I can rest in peace! And again, I can't answer any of your questions... ((ducks from the beating she will get))  
TigerLily: I've set a pace for my updates, and it's only when I have tests coming up that I stop and think "Oh, catnip, I have to study AND put up my chapter?" I don't know why I hold myself to this obligation...I feel guilty when I don't._

_Don't forget to review!   
_


	22. Ramifications

**Chapter 22 – Ramifications**

Demeter woke up, feeling very tired. She had expected to be left alone again. But to her surprise, she was surrounded by orange fur. In a panic, she jumped up and screeched, making the two cats around her jump up and recoil into fighting stance. "What is it!" Rumpleteazer asked, wide eyed and bushy-tailed.

"I dunno, I dunno!" Mungojerrie was peering around, as though he were expecting a monster to come out of nowhere. His paws were curled up like fists, and he punched the air twice as though there were an invisible opponent there.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! That was me!" The three looked at each other before sighing with relief. "I thought you were Macavity."

"Oy, Macavity," Mungejerrie mumbled, looking down at his fur in disgust. "Last thin' I need is to look like Macavity." (Demeter hadn't meant to insult him.) But the tom soon perked up. "You'll nevah 'ave to worry about 'im again!" he announced proudly. Demeter blinked, looking between the two. "I thought we should break you outta 'ere and take you 'ome!" Rumpleteazer punched her brother in the ribs. "Oof! She 'elped," he said, pointing to his sister as he rubbed his ribs.

"I came up with the idea! Toms!" She rolled her eyes and threw her paws up in the air before turning to the confused queen. "We promised we'd 'elp ya! Now we're doin' it! We're breaking you out!" Demeter still looked confused. "Get anythin' you need, 'cause we're not comin' back!"

"Um…" Demeter didn't quite grasp what the two were saying. (Not only due to their accent…) "How?" The little gold and black queen really didn't want to give her hopes up anymore than she already had in the past. Constantly trying to evoke her former companions didn't work, and that's all she could think up at the time. Every inch of the warehouse was crawling with Macavity's minions, and he never was one to call them off of an attack.

"No one pays attention to us in the mornin' when we leave." Mungojerrie explained while shuffling through his things. He took a moment to frown at having to leave his favorite candlestick before continuing on his explanation. "It's the best time to go out 'cause the yard is almost always deserted. The only time, actually. Cats get 'igh off catnip, or are too tired to get up, or somethi--"

"An' that's the perfect time to sneak you out!" Rumpleteazer interjected. "Easy as Strasburg pie!"

Demeter's hopes lifted as she was filled with a new energy. She shot up from her sleeping spot and joined in the excitement of the two tabbies before stopping dead. (Well, not DEAD, that's a bad word to use in this situation.) Her thoughts went back to the cat she saw on her first days here…and of the many horrors after that. "I don't want you to get hurt because of me," she said quickly, suddenly panicking for the well-being of her two friends. "I don't know what Macavity would do to _me_, but he would certainly do away with _you two_! He'll call you traitors and have you killed!"

Mungojerrie stopped all activity and seemed to grow pale. But Rumpleteazer shook her head. "'e won't," she said assuredly. "We're the best cat burglars in the 'ole tribe!" She tried to ignore the fact that her brother now looked sick. "You just 'ave to keep up with us, got it? That's the most important thin'!" Demeter nodded to show that she understood. She would do anything to get out of this place. She had always been afraid to try and escape because she was sure Macavity would come after her. That was even if she could get through the gauntlet of cats that constantly stayed at the entrance of the warehouse.

But her thoughts were cut short as the two became very serious. (This must be how they get before a heist.) It took a few moments for Demeter to realize that this was it…this was the moment she had been waiting for since she was forced into this tribe.

* * *

Macavity sat in his den, wondering if the queen he had scared off the day before would return to him today. She was expected to meet him everyday, yes, and she never backed down from meeting with him, although upon consideration, he realized that may have been simply from fear rather than _wanting_ to be with him. Oh, how he had messed everything up. For once in his life, he was considering his own actions, and the aftermath of them. (But of course, his mind always went back to the same fail-safe that kept him free from responsibility or guilt.)

_She_ was the one aggravating _him_. _She_ was the one who would always be by that brother of his. _She_ was the one who was hurting _him_. But he couldn't simply hate her for all these things. He had to forgive her for all her transgressions and try not to scare her next time. She scared far too easily, he realized.

Try again. He knew patience…for the most part. When he couldn't figure out a human contraption, he did at times throw it against a wall…but that didn't stop him from trying again with the now broken contraption! But he couldn't very well throw a queen against the wall…He didn't want to break her, though he tried.

Getting up, he took in a deep breath. It wasn't like him to be nervous about something. But today, there was definitely something off…his emotions among them. If only he could just figure out how to control his emotions, and try and reason with the queen. Maybe start anew. He didn't know what he could do, but now that he had his epiphany, realizing he didn't want the life he had been seeking his entire life, he knew that something had to change.

He knew he brought her here for a reason…She was good for him…and would heal him in time. If he could just figure out how to start again before it was too late.

* * *

Rumpleteazer took a deep breath and peered out of her den, making sure there was no attention directed on their little hut. Then she motioned for her brother to come forward. Mungojerrie grabbed Demeter's arm and went up to the opening. The tabby tom went out first, followed by Rumpleteazer. They carefully hid Demeter from sight with their bodies as they raced over to the pile of sewage, junk, and rat bones the two kittens used to leave the warehouse every day. As soon as they reached the pile, Mungojerrie went first, and Demeter did her best to keep up with him. But he was fast, and she kept sinking into the festering pile of sewage.

She tried not to think about what she was walking through as she followed the footsteps of the tabby in front of her. Rumpleteazer kept pushing her forward to get her to move faster. And with a lot of effort, the already tired queen reached the top, where Mungojerrie helped her up. As soon as Rumpleteazer reached the top, they went through a window and jumped down onto a fire escape, where they started their descent down to the deserted fenced in yard.

Demeter nearly squealed with excitement at smelling fresh air for the first time outside of that wretched warehouse. She was also impressed at how empty the yard was in the morning! It almost seemed like the warehouse was deserted, if she didn't know any better. Demeter followed the twins, not quite as sure of foot as the other two were, down the fire escape and onto the yard.

It was there she could see the fence she was meant to go through. There was a small dug out hole on the bottom where the cats seemed to exit. (No wonder it was always so crowded there. So few cats could leave at the same time!) She raced over with the other two towards the opening that held her freedom!

If only everything was so easy.

"THERE SHE IS!" The three cats whirled around to see cats were pouring out from all over. Rumpleteazer made a little yelping sound, and Mungojerrie grabbed Demeter's arm, practically dragging the queen to the exit. How! How did they know!

Then she remembered how every morning, cats would go out of their way to torment her out of the den. How could she have forgotten to tell the others this? Of course they would realize she was gone.

Rumpleteazer shot through the opening like a mad cat. Mungojerrie pushed Demeter to go through. The gold and black queen dove forward to go through the whole. Just as freedom seemed so close, Demeter chocked and tried to move backwards. But it was no use. Her collar was stuck on the fence. _Her prided collar was stuck on the fence!_

"Come on, come on!" Rumpleteazer seemed to squeak as both tabbies tried to unhook the collar. Just as the collar came loose, and Demeter was nearly out the hole, she felt paws grab at her feet. "NO!" Rumpleteazer screamed, grabbing at Demeter. But the gold and black queen was dragged through. Demeter saw Rumpleteazer's terrified eyes as she herself was hurdled backwards.

The cats forcefully spun her around. She saw that a few had pinned Mungojerrie to the ground before her view was blocked by the swarm of cats that rounded on her. There seemed to be a blood lust in the sudden crowd of cats that was in the yard. Some yelled for the others to stop. Some cheered others on. But there were more than enough cats to cause Demeter harm, slashing and tearing into her fur, leaving the poor queen screaming as blood began to trickle down her fur.

Mungojerrie had broken lose from the cats that had him pinned and pushed a few cats out of the way, taking a few slashes and bites at the ones attacking the frightened queen. He had only got out a few swipes in Demeter's defense, before the attention went onto Mungojerrie. He was once a friend to most of them, and they turned on him in the frenzy of the hunt.

Rumpleteazer was screaming behind them, hitting her paws against the fence. But if she tried to get through, the cats would probably turn on her as well. So all she could do was watch in horror, and cry.

* * *

Griddlebone raced out of her den at the sound of mass fighting in the yard. She hated to hear those sounds, but couldn't help herself but to go see what all the fuss was about this time. She raced up to the window where she could view everything, and saw a swarm of cats rounding the exit to the streets. Unsure of what to make of the situation, she strained her eyes and leaned forward against the glass to try and make out what was happening.

Was that orange fur? She was almost sure of it. She took a few moments to consider what she saw, before coming to the conclusion that the tribe had decided to turn against the infamous cat burglars who were hardly otherwise hated. Griddlebone shuddered at the thought of this. If they could turn on those kittens, they could turn on _anybody_. The Persian hardly wanted to see them die, but what could she do?

Just as she turned her eyes away from the sight, she thought she saw a bit of gold among the cats. Her mind slowly started to realize just what was going on. Turning back to the spectacle, she saw what she was positive to be the little queen Demeter as the source of all the fighting. Griddlebone stiffened at the thought.

She hardly liked the queen, but she certainly didn't want her dead…just gone! The Persian shook her head at the thought. She knew the queen wouldn't last long, but this was a horrible fate to befall a cat.

Then a solution popped in her head. She could save the little queen and the orange tabbies she was found of. If she really wanted to, that is. She knew just what card to play. But did she really want to bring about the mass chaos that would certainly ensue?

When she saw that the cats had left Mungojerrie bloody on the ground, Griddlebone turned and raced away. For once, she should have a little less cunning and a little more daring. While running on pure adrenaline, her heart pumping fast, she made her way up to the ginger cat's den. "Macavity!"

* * *

Some of the queens focused their attacks on Demeter. They grabbed her tail and pulled her violently into the crowd, who pushed, shoved, scratched, punched, and bit the queen who could only scream as they held her paws behind her. One pretty queen with an old scar across her face began to punch Demeter in the stomach, before taking a swipe at her face. By the time Demeter thought she was about to pass out, all she could do was scream, "Stop! PLEASE! SOMEBODY HELP!"

It seemed like she was falling. The pain was becoming masked by a feeling of weightlessness. As the sun rose and came over the building that was overshadowing the warehouse, Demeter suddenly thought how she may never see sunlight again. Funny…how her mind was drifting…how she seemed to be numbing to it all. Was this a good thing? As her head hung down weakly, the cats blocked out the sight of the suns rays and encompassed her in darkness.

There was a moment where all she could see was darkness, though she seemed to be past the pain. When the light came through again, she sat in utter bewilderment, unsure of what was going on.

There was a sudden streak of ginger fur that came from out of nowhere, and about a dozen toms and queens were thrown back. Demeter was slumped on the floor, but there were no new attacks on her. She could see Mungojerrie lying in a heap on the ground. Her senses were dulled at the time, so she had trouble comprehending what had just happened. With the cries of a familiar voice, reality slowly started to come back to her. Then she realized that her friend was before her. She somehow willed herself to focus.

Stunned, Demeter just stared, unsure if the tabby was even alive. Rumpleteazer had used the momentary lack in fighting to crawl back through the hole and run to her brother. She grabbed his arms and began dragging Mungojerrie's limp body away to the fence. "Demetah!" she called, never stopping her race to the fence.

Demeter shakily sat up, looking around as everything was still in a haze. There stood a viscous looking cat that looked like he was going to kill anything that would dare fight him. His sunken in eyes blazed with fury as his ginger fur seemed to burn with fire. His teeth had never looked more ferocious and his claws were fully extended. Was this real? Demeter made a move to get up, but only then did she remember the pain. Taking in a few heavy breaths, she got up to her feet, and looked over at the unrecognizable cat before her.

There was movement to his right, from a cat that was trying to get away from the terrifying figure. The ginger tom turned and bit right into the other cat's leg. Demeter watched in horror as three other cats lunged on the creature she once knew as Macavity. He threw them aside as though they were nothing. "Demetah!" Rumpleteazer called more frantically.

The queen took the second call to heart and stumbled over to the direction of the voice with a sudden rush of adrenaline. A claw launched out to grab her, but missed her by just a few centimeters. The ginger cat could hardly follow, because the frenzy of cats had now turned on him.

Demeter somehow crawled out under the hole and raced over to where Rumpleteazer was dragging her brother. She looked in horror at the tom on the ground. His sister looked up with a tear stained face. "We 'ave to get him outta 'ere," she managed to say. Demeter bent down and put Mungojerrie's limp arm over her shoulders. She prayed the adrenaline that was still rushing through her would get her through her own pain and frailty to help her saviors to safety.

The gold and black queen tried to ignore the sounds of cats fighting in the background, as it sounded like the fighting had turned into an all out war. She had to help the cats she indebted her life to. As Rumpleteazer and Demeter carried the orange tom to safety, they were followed by the sounds of the massive cat fight behind them that would stay with them for the rest of their lives.

* * *

_A/N: Happy Halloween ((BOO!)) And thanks to all reviewers...you all basically said the same thing. I'm glad you liked it, the story kind of led me there. I wasn't sure if it fit or not. Anyways...Don't have nightmares or anything, you younguns you, okay?  
_  



	23. Memory

**Chapter 23 - Memory**

Demeter sat down heavily, taking a moment to breathe as she stared at the beaten, bloody form of Mungojerrie. He wasn't moving. He _was_ breathing, (they made sure to check.) But that didn't comfort them much as he still _wasn't moving_. Demeter felt the pangs of guilt rise up in her as she looked down at her wounded friend.

"Come on," Rumpleteazer urged her brother as she licked his wounds. "Wake up, Jerrie…wake up…" Demeter crept forward to try and help…somehow…with something…but Rumpleteazer wouldn't allow it. She was being protective of her brother. Every time Demeter came close, offering to help tend his wounds, she would mumble a soft "no" while putting her body between him and the gold queen. After Demeter would back away, Rumpleteazer would go back to her self-assigned job.

"Please, that won't help," Demeter said to the queen. "He has too many scratches. You have to believe me, I know a little bit about medicine. I used to play around the healer of our tribe. She would teach me a few things. I could tend to his wounds..." But again, Rumpleteazer protectively hid her brother when the other queen got too close. Feeling helpless, Demeter looked down at her own wounds. There were many at that, but they didn't seem to be hurting just then. (She was probably in shock or on a post-running euphoria, but she knew she would barely be able to move once the real pain set in. Taking a moment to lick one of her own wounds, she looked at the unscathed tabby queen. Rumpleteazer must have felt so helpless when watching her brother being attacked and not being able to do anything about it.

"Teazer," Demeter said with a brighter tone of voice than she had meant. "Back in my junkyard, the queen I mentioned, she could heal anything! I'm sure if we get Mungojerrie back there, she'd help him." Rumpleteazer didn't dare look at Demeter. The gold and black queen knew the tabby must have thought Demeter responsible for her brother's state, but was too nice to say anything about it. Demeter would have to assuage her guilty feeling by convincing her to go find the Jellicle tribe. "She's wrapped up our protector time after time against fights with Macavity." (Of course, this was a bit of an exaggeration, as Macavity was a kitten at the time…but Rumpleteazer didn't need to know that.)

"Really?" Rumpleteazer asked, looking from her brother to the queen. Her spirits seemed to rise slightly at the thought. "Where is she?" She asked, sniffling.

"At my junkyard!" Demeter said brightly, reaching out a paw to the tabby queen before realizing that her arm didn't have much mobility in it anymore.

"Where is that?" Rumpleteazer asked hopefully.

Demeter was at a loss for words. She shrugged hopelessly, and gave the queen a sorrowful look. "I…I don't know," she said, tears beginning to trickle from her eyes. Rumpleteazer's face fell. "He knocked me out when he brought me here, so nothing looks familiar."

"Maybe if you name a place nearby, we can 'elp you," said a weary voice.

"Yeah, then we'd prob'ly…JERRIE!" Rumpleteazer hugged her brother tightly.

"OW!" He wasn't so weak as not to protest his sister's onslaught of affection. "That 'urts like 'ell, Teazah." He took in a few deep breaths before groaning, and going limp. Demeter and Rumpleteazer thought he had passed out again, but on closer inspection, his eyes were darting about in an attempt to take in the alleyway they were hidden in.

Rumpleteazer sighed with relief. "You're awake! 'ow long 'ave you been listenin'?"

"Since she mentioned lickin' my wounds," Mungojerrie said softly, pointing an unharmed paw at Demeter. (Technically, she said _tend_ his wounds, but if it woke him up, she wasn't going to say anything.) "I mean, you're my sistah, Rump! I wouldna minded if a cute queen took over. Ow!" Rumpleteazer had given her brother an admonishing nudge, but quickly apologized when she remember just how hurt he was. He took a few breaths, before closing his eyes. He then tried to raise himself up, much to the protest of the two queens. Demeter went over to his head and gently pulled the tom back so he could rest his head in her lap. (He then decided he had tried to move enough, a goofy smile on his face as he rested in her lap.) "You mentioned a junkyard?" he asked, looking up at Demeter.

"Yes," Demeter said, all the while surveying the scratches all over his face and the bites marks around his ears. "It's a junkyard, near a couple of apartments. I remember because they always throw boots at us when we're caterwauling…"

"Mm," Mungojerrie sighed, closing his eyes and resting against the queen. Demeter's heart began to race as she thought he might pass out again. She motioned for Rumpleteazer to come close, whispering instructions in her ear to grab some clean cloth, water…anything that would clean up his wound. Only a few of his scratches were deep enough to continue bleeding. "I might remembah a place like that," he said finally, not bothering to open his eyes. Demeter could hear the weariness in his voice, though he tried to sound his normal jovial self. "It would be awhile from 'ere. We'd…uh…'ave to do alotta walking."

"Can you walk?" Rumpleteazer asked.

"I just need to rest," he said, purring softly as his head lulled in Demeter's lap. She made a motion to Rumpleteazer that told her to go grab what she had instructed. As soon as the queen left, she started stroking the tom's head where he wasn't injured…it seemed to take him mind off things. (In that moment, she could really appreciate the lessons her sister taught her about addressing a tom.) But cats purr for many reasons, and she's sure he was trying to calm the pain all over his body at the time. She stayed with her friend, while looking about warily to see if anything had followed them. So many things that could hurt them, and the injuries alone were too much to begin with. Demeter had to be brave. She wasn't going to let anyone be payment for her freedom.

* * *

Rumpleteazer came back with the cloth, bandages, cotton swabs, a tiny bottle of water just perfect for a cat to pick up…she practically had a first aid kit with her in a bag she stole from the Everlasting Cat knows where! Demeter took some time to clean and wrap up the tom's deeper wounds, while his sister licked his minor scratches. Demeter then took the water and dumped some on Mungojerrie's face. 

"Hey!" Rumpleteazer said as the tom in question woke suddenly, sputtering and sneezing out the water that went up his nose.

"He needed to wake up," she told her. As Mungojerrie tried to wipe the water off his face, Demeter looked over her work. (Well, at least he wouldn't die of lose of blood.) But he was very weak. Demeter then took some of the water and began cleaning out some of her wounds. With a hiss from her lips, she thought Mungojerrie lucky he was passed out when she cleaned his wounds. She was so sore…

"We 'ave to get going," Rumpleteazer said, looking nervously over her shoulder. "I think I saw some of Macavity's agents around the area…"

"Can you get up?" Demeter asked Mungojerrie, staring down at him. (Her legs were starting to fall asleep.) Without answering her, he lifted up his arm, signaling Rumpleteazer to come over and help him up.

When the tabby queen couldn't lift his dead weight, she grunted and said, "Evahlasting Cat, Jerrie! What 'ave you been eatin'? I can't even lift ya anymore!"

"It's not what I've been eatin'," he retorted, albeit softly. "It's my muscles…I've been workin' out, ya know?" Demeter struggled to her feet, wobbling slightly at the pain and numbness of her legs. After putting the items back in the bag, tossing the empty bottle of water aside, she handed it to Rumpleteazer. She then went to help her hold up Mungojerrie on his other side. Together, they held up the limp tom. The queens exchanged a worried look. Both of them were quite small, and with one injured, they had no idea how long they could hold Mungojerrie up for. And he was putting just about all his weight on them… "I'm fine!" he assured the two. "And I'll be bettah when we get far enough away from 'ere."

"Okay," Rumpleteazer said, trying to sound her usual chipper self. "Where to?" And so the little trio of cats went on their way, Mungojerrie pointing out where to go, and the queens struggling to help the toppling tom in the appropriate direction. Every once in a while, Demeter had to stop, leaning against the wall and trying to catch her breath, holding her sides. She would sometimes discover a new wound, or even have to dress it, as all the activity caused one that was beginning to coagulate to open up. And what's worse, when they actually _were_ moving, the twins did nothing but fight.

"Would you just listen to me, Teazah, I AM oldah than you, ya know!" Said Mungojerrie when she kept asking him if he knew where they were going. Sure, he was too tired to walk on his own, or even to hold himself up at times when they had to stop for Demeter. But what brother can back down from a fight with his sister?

"Oldah!" Rumpleteazer snapped. "By what? Two minutes?"

"That's right, RUMP! And you know what that gives me?" He waited for an answer. When none came, he answered, "Su-pe-ri-o-ri-ty ! That's right! You 'eard me!"

"What can 'appen in two minutes that makes you so superiyah?" Rumpleteazer retorted in a huff before adjusting her brother's weight against her. "Did the Evahlastin' Cat come down from the 'Eaviside Layah and….and….uh…" She seemed stuck on trying to find a good conclusion to her question."

"Bestow upon you his power?" Demeter offered. (She was sure that if Mungojerrie had the energy, he could have cuffed her.)

"Yeah! What she said!" Rumpleteazer smiled to Demeter. "Thanks, love."

"As a mattah of fact, 'e did!" Mungojerrie said in a haughty voice. "An' what of it?"

"If you was the Evahlastin' Cat, you would just have to swish your tail and we'd be to that junkyard by now, wouldn' we?"

"The powah can't be abused…RUMP!"

"DON'T CALL ME RUMP!" But before Rumpleteazer could say anymore, Demeter shushed the two, her ears perked up painfully in attention. She thought she heard something. She stiffened slightly, causing the other two to listen and fidget nervously in place. But when she was sure it was nothing, Demeter breathed a sigh of relief. Looking up at the sky, she realized night time had snuck up on them.

"I think we should rest," she said, trying to dissolve the tension. The other two sighed with relief. (Whether it was to the news of nothing serious following them or the suggestion they were happy to hear, she wasn't sure.)

The three went into an alleyway and settled down there for the night. Mungojerrie looked at his bandages as though he only then realized they were on and frowned. "I would lick my own wounds, but I think I'd 'urt myself…" Rumpleteazer put some old clothing behind her brother and he laid back, obviously exhausted. (Demeter was astounded at how fast she found something for him to lie against! She didn't even see Rumpleteazer leave…)

Demeter sat next to Mungojerrie as Rumpleteazer disappeared again. "I'm sorry you got so hurt, Jerrie," Demeter said softly to the tom. But he seemed to be sleeping already. Her eyes drifted again to the wounds covering his body. All over…scratches, bites, puncture wounds, blood matting his fur. The image of him being dragged down by his former companions filled her head, and she could see it happening all over again. "No!" she said sharply, shaking her head.

"No, what?" Rumpleteazer asked, coming back with some more clothing to make a little bed out of.

"She's lookin' at the damage," Mungojerrie said, causing Demeter to step back in alarm.

"Don't DO THAT!" Demeter said. "Pretending you're asleep when you're awake…it's very disconcerting." The tom opened one eye to look at her and smiled. Demeter smiled softly in return, but it was a sad smile. (She didn't know when the next time she would truly smile would be.) And with that thought, she turned around and sat, staring up at the moon.

After a while, she looked down at her own wounds, feeling her face to inspect her injuries. She felt her ear and winced. No wonder it pained her to rotate her ears… One of the cats seemed to want to rip her left ear off, and by the feel of it, was close to succeeding. Her lip was swollen, but she could feel that by simply talking. Bruises seemed to cover most of her body, and of course there were scratches. She felt a cut across her face, and decided to end her inspection there, resuming her watch of the night sky. "I forgot how beautiful the stars were…I didn't realize I missed seeing the sky so much." She was speaking more to herself than her two companions.

"What are they like?" Mungojerrie asked in a hushed voice. Demeter turned around to see Rumpleteazer nodding. (She wanted to know too.)

"The…stars?"

"You're tribe," Rumpleteazer corrected. Demeter sighed. She hadn't thought highly of them lately. They had, after all, left her..._abandoned_ her. But she did miss them.

"My sister," she began, closing her eyes to think back to the last time she sat in the sun with her. "My sister is a gorgeous queen, and known for that in the tribe. She's always taken care of me. She's been there my whole life." Demeter smiled at the memory of her sister. "Then there are the kittens. They always seem to be getting into trouble…you two might like them." The twins smiled proudly at the thought. (She wasn't sure it was meant to be a compliment.)

"Then there's Jennyanydots, who's the resident healer. Jellylorum helps her at times, but Jenny is always looking for a good deed to do, so she seemed to fall right into that role. She takes on a lot." She hadn't realized how much she missed them all…though it's always been there. Demeter felt a knot form in her stomach. But she continued to talk.

"There are two protectors in the tribe, as well. Alonzo…he's the older one. Only a little older though. But he's not the main protector. The other is…" Demeter felt her stomach tighten more as she thought of the tom she was about to talk about. The thought made her want to cry. All reasoning told her what was real, gave all the logical reasons why they might not be able to find her, but her head kept screaming, 'abandoned.' Why didn't he come for her? He should have come for her.

"Well?" Rumpleteazer prompted. Demeter was brought back to reality.

"His name is Munkustrap," she continued, turning to look back up at the moon. "And that's the name you want to learn. If…he is even looking for me…he'll come when called." (Now she realized she was equating him with a Pollicle.) "He's a good house kitty that way," she heard herself say bitterly.

"Doesn' sound too tough to be a protectah," Mungojerrie said softly.

"Oh, no!" Demeter said quickly before realizing she was coming to the defense of her fallen knight. "He's always been very strong. And he has a very kind heart. The kittens love him…well, not quite like they do Tugger. But they certainly look up to him! They always want him to play, nuzzle him in greeting, and hide behind him when they're scared. He's really loved. By everyone, I mean," she added as an afterthought. She laughed to herself, as though that was all that could keep her from crying. "He's very serious, and when I was a kitten I loved to bug him. But I've far outgrown that, now."

The two cats smiled to each other. "Munka-tappa, did you call 'im?" Rumpleteazer asked. Mungojerrie smiled knowingly to his sister. (Demeter thought she saw Rumpleteazer wink at him.)

"MUN-KUS-TRAP!" Demeter said more hotly than she meant to. Demeter shook her head as Rumpleteazer began convulsing in laughter. Mungojerrie was laughing as well, but he had to stop when he groaned in pain. Rumpleteazer ran over to her brother with concern, going over his wounds with a scrupulous eye, as though she could instantly heal any ruptured wounds.

"I'm fine, I'm fine!" said the tabby, a little annoyed by the extra attention. He sighed and tried to shake the bad mood out of his head. When that failed to work, he drew his attention back on Demeter. "You were sayin'?"

"I'm a little scared," she continued, trying not to seem overly concerned with the orange tom. "I have no idea what it will be like when I see them. After all this time…Is it so easy to be forgotten?"

"In my experience," Rumpleteazer began, but she quickly went quiet. Mungojerrie beckoned his sister over, where she curled up next to him, her gaze far off, thinking of something that bothered her deeply. They had been through a lot in just one day, but Demeter forgot how little she knew of her companions. She stayed close to the two cats, looking up longingly at the moon.

"Please…don't forget me…I'm tired of being forgotten," she whispered. Tears began to stream down her face, as she found herself praying to whoever hears a cat's prayers. "I didn't realize until now…how easily someone can simply be a forgotten memory."

* * *

About a mile away, a young kitten was looking up at the moon. She came up to this spot often, but tonight she felt beckoned to it. She startled as she heard a noise rustling from behind her, but calmed when she saw who it was. A silver and black cat, made absolutely brilliant by the light of the moon, climbed his way up the junk. Though she was in awe by the striking gleam of his coat that night, the air about him contrasted the beautiful shine. Weary and faded, the cat looked up in surprise at the kitten there. He did his best to smile that usual smile of his, though lately, no one could believe it. 

She didn't need to ask what was wrong…everyone knew. She gave him a look telling him not smile simply for her sake. And he listened to the unspoken request, dropping his mask and allowing his tired, sullen face to show. He sat next to her silently, and together they looked up at the moonlight. The kitten sat back and snuggled against the weary, heartbroken protector…and didn't mind when her coat became wet and salty with his quiet tears.

* * *

_A/N: I'm glad people did not_, _like, flame me for that last chapter. I was sooooooo worried about it! Hehe...now I just have to decide on an ending and worry about how people will like that...I have a few ideas, but I think I have to wait and see what works best..anyways..._

_Demo: Do you think her change of heart was too abrupt? I meant to make it something like, "hey, she DOES care about Mungojerrie at least, even though she robbed him blind," but I wasn't concentrating on it, so I didn't think it was abrupt when I wrote it. If so, I definitely have to make a mental note on that.  
Krissy4: Welcome home from school! Rumpleteazer was being optimisic...Mungojerrie wasn't really thinking about it...they ARE kittens, lol. And I'm so glad you vote that your favorite! I've been worrying about this chapter since the first review on Macavity.  
TigerLily: Everyone is so happy not being able to log in (eh-heh...) You're so optimistic! "Sure, they're hurt, but they get to go home!" ((pats you on the head)) Just like Rumpleteazer.  
Lozzypop: I've been told "good work" ((gleaming smile)) _

_You all are so cute, and assuaged all my fears about that chapter. Thankies! Pumpkin Pie to all the readers! _


	24. Unrecognizable and Misunderstood

**Chapter 24 – Unrecognizable and Misunderstood**

There stood the gold and black queen next to Macavity, a mob of cats and kittens beneath them who lunged, hissed, spit, and caterwauled. Some were turning against each other. Others looked intently up at Demeter. As she looked out, she could see two mounds of orange and black fur, motionless. The crowd had forgotten about them, leaving the Jellicle the last one watching them, praying they were okay, as tears fell down her horrified face.

When she finally drew her attention away, she saw the form of a cat she loved dearly on the other side of the street, a silver gleam of hope in the black night and firey rage of the cats that waited for their next kill. Her mouth opened, and as though she were watching herself from afar, she screamed and screamed for him to come for her. But he didn't bother to turn around. She tried to move away from the ginger cat beside her and crawl over to where the silver tabby could see her, but every step she took made her feel like a weight was pulling her down more and more, until she couldn't even move.

She gave out one last cry, hoping that he would hear her finally. But to her surprise, when he turned around, there was a look of annoyance on his face. As Demeter was picked up by Macavity and held over his head, above the rebellious crowd, she watched in alarm, no longer able to speak, as her would-be savior simply walked away. He didn't even bother to look at her.

That's when Macavity threw Demeter's body down into the pit of claws and teeth, and fiercely glowing eyes. No one could hear her cries. All she knew was pain. And when she thought she would finally die, a blur of red, ginger, and orange jumped down, and the crowd backed away. She thought for one moment she would be saved.

He turned on her, smiling deviously, almost as though taunting her. She was terrified and paralyzed, unable to defend herself against the predator that stood over her. Finally, he went in for the finishing blow…

Demeter opened her eyes, again surrounded by orange fur. Panicked, she moved to get away, whimpering to herself and pushing against the cat in front of her, but the "OW" from Mungojerrie reminded her of where she was. She shot up and backed up against the wall, as she gasped for breath. Mungojerrie coughed slightly and rubbing his stomach where Demeter had pushed against. She saw red forming under the bandages, and felt a knot in her stomach at having re-bled one of his wounds. Rumpleteazer woke up and spun around to see her brother holding his side.

"I'm so sorry," Demeter breathed, still trembling. Rumpleteazer seemed to ignore Demeter's apology as she watched her brother with worry. (He didn't seem to be doing well.) Nuzzling her brother, she then jumped up on a trashcan and dove in. Demeter sheepishly walked up to Mungojerrie and nuzzled him on the cheek as Rumpleteazer had done. "I'm so sorry! I had a bad dream…"

He sighed, and then tried to laugh lightly, though he was hardly his old self. "If you're always like that, I'd feel sorry for your mate." Demeter bit her lip as she looked the cat over. Then, without warning, she began to cry. "Aw, no, I didn' mean to make you cry! I was just jokin'! I'm fine, really!" But Demeter was convulsing with the tears she was trying to hold back. "Gah…I hate it when queens cry. Come on, love. Please don't cry! I was jokin' really!" Demeter hiccupped and tried to pull herself together.

When Rumpleteazer came back with a half eaten sandwich, she looked between the two, oblivious to what had happened. "Teazah, I made 'er cry," Mungojerrie said, looking pleadingly to his sister.

"Don' be mean to 'er, Jerrie," Rumpleteazer said with a stern look. She inched over to Demeter and gave her a quick hug, patting her shoulder, before tossing Mungojerrie the sandwich.

"I didn' mean to make her cry!"

"Just eat your food, Jerrie. It was all that was there. You need your strength." Mungojerrie looked pleadingly to Demeter. She tried to avoid eye-contact, but it was obvious he was trying to get her attention. When she looked up, he gave her a silly smile, clasping his paws together in a "please" position. Demeter gave a shaky laugh, and tried to smile to him. She managed to stop crying as her wounded friend gave a satisfied nod and began picking at the food he was given.

As Mungojerrie ate, the two queens watched him with sorrow and pity, as though they were expecting him to pass out at any moment. When he looked up suddenly (probably because he felt the eyes boring into him), he chocked down what food he had in his mouth and sighed. "Come on, you two! Look, I'll be as good as evah when we get Demetah back to 'er junkyard…okay?" The two nodded, and let the tom eat the rest of his breakfast in peace.

Demeter tried to occupy her time by scoping out the neighborhood. She was looking for something… anything…that was familiar. "Maybe if you call for them," Rumpleteazer offered, sitting next to the gold queen. "I don' think I can smell any of Macavity's agent around. And if we're close by, your friends might 'ear ya and come get ya!"

Demeter nodded, biting her lip. She took a few deep breaths to calm her nerves some more, then braced herself. But as she was about to call out Munkustrap's name, the dream crept into her mind, and she lost her nerve. She didn't want to think about the possibility of being ignored when she really needed him. However, she had to call _someone_ as Rumpleteazer was watching her. "Bombalurina!" she shouted. "Mistoffelees! He always seemed to have a knack for appearing out of nowhere," she explained to the tabby queen, who nodded in approval. "Alonzo!"

"What about that one chap you're always tellin' us about? Spinaltap?" Rumpleteazer suggested.

"Munkustrap," Demeter corrected. But when she went on to explain why she was afraid to call for him, she knew it would sound insane. So instead, she turned back to Mungojerrie. "Are we anywhere nearby?" she asked.

He looked up from licking his paws. (Apparently he liked the meat, but the bread was discarded on the side.) "Oh, pretty far for a cat to walk injured," he said somewhat moodily. He then made to get up, but Rumpleteazer raced to his side to help him. Demeter followed and went to his right side. Rumpleteazer's fur was getting covered in blood from his freshly opened wound that was seeping through the bandages. He looked very pale…

"Did you enjoy your breakfast?" Rumpleteazer tried for a cheery effect. It came out like a mother cat talking to her kitten.

"Thank you, Teazah," Mungojerrie mumbled. "I feel a bit bettah," he admitted. This made Rumpleteazer puff up with pride.

The cats continued on their way. But they were hardly moving at lightening speed. On the contrary, they seemed to adopt a slow amble, as the two tired queens supported the injured tom. After a while, Demeter felt she was about to pass out, both from the pain of her own injuries and the burden of carrying Mungojerrie. Sure, she would gladly take on this burden, but she was never that strong of a cat, and was now cursing herself for her weaknesses. Everyone was always taking care of her, and she needed to be strong now for them. She must not pass out!

So Demeter decided to change the subject. "How did you end up at Macavity's?" she asked. She had never bothered to ask them, and frankly had no idea why she considered this a good time to ask. "You're too nice to work for him."

Both the tabbies smiled sadly. "We were kicked out of our 'ouse," Rumpleteazer explained.

"The mum of our owner didn't like us much," Mungojerrie continued. "We broke 'er Ming vase, and…uh…that was the last straw for 'er."

"Though it made a very nice sound as it crashed to the floor," Rumpleteazer tried to say brightly. "But, after that, we were on our own for a while. It was just me and my brother…so we got really close." At this, Mungojerrie weakly batted at his sister's ear. She turned to frown at her brother. "We weren't that close to begin with," she went on to say. Mungojerrie laughed lightly as this before groaning and holding his side. Rumpleteazer frowned at her brother, but he simply shrugged.

"We were all each othah 'ad," Mungojerrie said, ignoring his pain. "I couldn' 'ave my sistah getting 'urt, so I found Macavity's tribe. It was bettah than being on the streets…at first." The two looked away from each other, any last attempt at trying to be cheery wiped away.

"Then we just got stuck there," Rumpleteazer said finally. "Even if they were brutish. We didn't want that to 'appen to us again."

"Want what…?" Demeter trailed off before she could continue her inquiry, but they seemed to understand her want of knowledge. Mungojerrie glanced at his sister before looking to Demeter.

"You're very innocent, Demetah," said the tabby in a very serious tone, causing the gold and black queen to become transfixed on the suddenly wise Mungojerrie. "You don't deserve to live the life we 'ave." Demeter nodded in understanding, before looking forward again. She felt bad for her friends. Surely, the Jellicle tribe would accept them in! But then again, she didn't even know what would happen to her…

After a long while of silence, Demeter began looking around the area. Some things started looking _really_ familiar. And the scent of the area…were they close by? "Bombalurina!" she called quite suddenly, causing Mungojerrie to start and Rumpleteazer to cover her ear with her free paw. "Deuteronomy! _Somebody_!" She was sure she knew this place. Maybe not from any time recent, but from a long time ago…

Rumpleteazer looked over to her brother, then to Demeter. Then she thought to try her paw at it. "Mipcophenclees!" she yelled.

Demeter burst out laughing suddenly, causing pain to her sides where her wounds were deep. "It's Mistoffelees," she corrected between giggles. What was wrong with her? Was she so tired she could fall into a fit of giggles at the mispronunciation of a name? After regaining a bit of sanity, she tried again. "Alonzo!"

"Try Snookerdoodle," Mungojerrie suggested. Demeter nodded and took a breath, ready to call the name before stopping and realizing what he had said. Again, she laughed with the same over-zealousness. Mungojerrie smiled weakly. "Well, I don't know what their names are!"

"_Skimbleshanks_!" Demeter tried.

"Close enough," Mungojerrie shrugged. Rumpleteazer bit her lip, trying not to laugh. For a moment, the three were acting normal, as though there was wrong. But they all stopped at the same time, the fur on the back of their necks standing on end.

"Macavity…" Demeter said in shock, and Mungojerrie sniffed the air. But before he could confirm the Jellicle's warning, the two queens raced over to an alleyway, practically dragging the injured tom with them. They gently placed Mungojerrie on the floor, before they started looking around nervously. The raspy breathing of the tabby tom was all that could be heard at the time. Demeter wore a look of horror, while Rumpleteazer seemed very worried and agitated.

"He's going to take me back," Demeter whimpered. "What if he takes me back? He'll have me killed for sure." Rumpleteazer seemed to shrink down at the thought. They couldn't fight him off. What were they going to do? She was so close…he couldn't take her back! He couldn't! She wouldn't let him.

The three looked around frantically as a sinister sounding, un-catlike laugh reverberated though the air around the alleyway, the sound bouncing off the walls and echoing the menacing laughter. Demeter was curled up, on the ground, fur on end, eyes wide open in fright, as Rumpleteazer raced over to her brother, hissing, and standing over him, ready to protect him if need be.

A drop of blood fell to the ground between Demeter and the other two, and they froze for a moment. Then Demeter looked up at the fire-escape above them.

She had never seen that look in any cat's eyes, not even for Macavity. He may have never been "all there", but he was certainly gone now. He looked as though he had lost all reasoning, and the wild look in his eyes that bore into her sent chills down Demeter's spine. She thought if she looked into his eyes any longer, he could kill her by pure hate alone.

Demeter tore her gaze away from that insane looking glare and raced out of the alley so quickly, Rumpleteazer and Mungojerrie only saw a blur. She could hear the sounds of paws hitting the ground behind her. The adrenaline pulsing through her veins carried the frightened queen down a few blocks, across streets where cars barely missed them, near houses where Pollicles barked furiously at them, and into an uninhabited back-alley. It was here that Demeter's adrenaline gave up on her, as it wasn't enough to carry her beaten body anymore.

Macavity pounced, grabbing onto her around her waist, and they tumbled and spun on the ground, skidding to a stop, Demeter scraping her nails raw on the pavement. Macavity was at this point on top of her, his paw around her neck. "I'm not going to hurt you," he hissed, though he was handling her roughly at the moment. "Come back, and I won't hurt you."

Demeter did her best to push him off her with her hind legs, scratching into his belly until Macavity withdrew momentarily from the pain. "_MUNKUSTRAP_!" Demeter screamed, as she had given herself just enough time to dive behind some large garbage cans against a wall. Macavity lunged after her, but since Demeter was a small cat, he wasn't able to fit in the tiny spot she had hidden herself in.

He grabbed Demeter's paw, and tried to forcefully pull her out. "I'm not going to HURT you," he said fiercely. "Just come back with me!"

Demeter pulled back, whimpering, "You're going to kill me! Let go of me! _Let me go_!"

"_I can't do that_," he said in a deep voice that cut right through her. He tugged forcefully on her arm again, and Demeter let out a yelp, trying her hardest to back up into her hiding place again. Macavity was covered in bites and scars, which still seemed to be oozing blood that dyed his fur even redder, yet he still pursued. What was wrong with him! Demeter knew that if he didn't regain his senses, they would both surely die: He from his wounds, she from his uncontrolled wrath. And injured as he was, he had never seemed stronger! Whether he wanted to kill her or not, one wrong move from either of them, and that would be it. She didn't want to die…she didn't want to die.

"MUNKUSTRAP!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. But that seemed to make him angrier. Then her mind went to the ones she knew were closest. "MUNGOJERRIE! TEAZER!" But they could hardly do anything in their state. "BOMBA! Please…anyone! _HELP ME_!" Macavity managed to grab a stabbing hold onto Demeter's arm, and the tug of war ended with Macavity dragging her out of her hiding place. "NO!" she cried.

A flash of fur, and his grip on her arm was released. Demeter scooted as far back into her hiding place as she could and curled herself into a ball so tight, she thought she would suffocate herself, if not open her old wounds. It hurt to even breathe. With her head tucked away, all she could hear was the noises: yelling, screeching, and the sounds of a cat fight. Some voices called to each other. She thinks she heard some calling her name, but she did her best to block that out. Demeter yelped in shock when something was slammed hard against the trash cans.

She peeked for a moment from her little shelter of a ball to see flashes of fur; black, white, red, orange, and eventually silver. She closed her eyes after that as the sounds continued to carry on in her head, and her mind brought her back to the moment all the cats were piled on top of her and Mungojerrie. Se could see the wounds, the helplessness of her friend, all over again. "Stop!" she screamed as she relived her nightmare. "_You'll kill him_!"

The shuffling and shifting began to slow down, until mercifully, it stopped. Demeter didn't want to look up. She didn't want to see Mungojerrie hurt and bleeding on the floor again. She didn't want to see the frightening form of Macavity again. She didn't want to see any of it. "He's badly hurt," said a female voice between catching her breath.

Demeter peeked from her little ball and saw a black paw visible between the trashcans she was hiding behind. It was lying limp. Who was that?

"He shouldn't have been fighting," said a strong male voice. At this, Demeter shot up in a sitting position. So many emotions were brought up with the sound of that voice, she thought she was going to burst, not knowing what to do but whimper. After all she had been through; everything was finally flaring up on her with the sound of that voice. "Get them to Jenny, Skimble."

Demeter nervously licked her left paw. She bit at the pained paw, before getting up, sitting down, and shuffling her feet. Something! She had to do SOMETHING but she was too scared to go outside. All the while, there was scuffling, grunting, and groans of pain, then the sound of paws walking away.

Then a shadow took over the opening of the hiding place. "Demeter?" said a soothing, shaky voice.

"I hate you!" the words came out like an explosion from her mouth, as she submitted to her shaking and shivering. She didn't even recognize her own voice. She couldn't even recognize her own _emotions_. "Where were you? I needed you!"

"I…I couldn't find you," said the voice, shaky and obviously hurt. "Please come out, Demeter. You're safe now. We drove him away. He won't come back for you." Demeter didn't move. The owner of the voice knelt down and looked through the small opening, his green eyes meeting with hers, and the shock on his face upon looking at her turned into one of sadness. He seemed to be looking for words to say, but was at a loss. After a moment, he composed himself. "Please. We all missed you so much."

Demeter fidgeted upon seeing him again. The words didn't do much to quash the surge of emotions ready to explode right out of her, but rather, agitated it more as she bit nervously at her paw. "Don't do that," the silver tabby said to her with worry in his voice, as the queen began to taste blood on her left paw. Demeter thought for a moment that he reminded her of Rumpleteazer…

The thought made her jump up, and she raced out of her hiding place, brushing past the fur of the tom who had been trying to coax her out. Demeter saw the fuzzy form a red queen watching her from the side, seeming shocked and surprised at the same time. But nothing seemed clear anymore. "Which way did he go?" she asked frantically, looking around the area. "He'll kill them if he finds them! You have to find them!"

"Demeter?" the red queen asked, gently approaching the shivering gold queen. "Who are you talking about? The tribe is safe. They'll be okay." Demeter stared at the bloody footprints that were leading away from the area where she left her two friends. With a sigh of relief, she finally gave into the exhaustion that had been nagging at her since she left her prison, and fell into the open arms that would finally bring her back to safety.

* * *

_A/N: Oh, I feel I'll have alot said to me after I post this...Ahem..Anyway. I am a might upset at the fact that the hit counters reset. BUT I'll live. I was afraid to post when the stats crashed, or whatever it was that happened. But it gave me time to work out the frames of the last chapters. For those of you wanting to know, It should be atleast 33 chapters long, give or take a chapter, depending on if I want to seperate or merge certain chapters. I originally planned for around 25, but I added alot because Macavity ended up intriguing me more than I thought he would. I hope you stay with me for the time being!_

_Tiger Lily: I'm glad you liked the chapter! BUT I wonder if anyone noticed about the content of the chapter and the title of it.  
Demo: Thanks for asking how long it would be. It made me sit down and actually type out the ending I had in my head, and gave me a rough estimate for myself. Oh, and I'm glad they were funny! I missed funny with all the seriousness going on!  
Enkeli-kitsu: Give a person a kitten, and suddenly they don't review! ((sniffle)) I see how it is. Just kidding. Hmm...Happy ending? But I love the dramatic so much! Haha..heh...yeah, you'll see ((wink)) _


	25. Broken

**Chapter 25 - Broken**

Earlier…

Bombalurina was lying in the sun, but her fur hardly shimmered as it used to. It was as dull as her demeanor had been these past few weeks, after she had given up hope of finding her sister and accepted that she was gone. The Rum Tum Tugger was by her side, silently accompanying her, trying to be her friend, doing everything against his usual conduct. But he was starting to take on the red queen's depression, and even his appearance was beginning to suffer from the disappearance of the black and gold queen. He had tried to cheer her up, make her think of other things, and tried to make her eat her meals. But it seemed all he could do was sit there and watch her pick at foods, as her form was slowly wasting away to nothing.

He understood how she felt. Though he often tried to treat the other toms with an air of indifference, and strutted around as though he hadn't a care in the world, he was still an older brother. Watching his younger brothers fight as a kitten seemed so normal. But now this "normal fighting" had turned into an all out war, and casualties were had. Looking back on it, letting all the fights go, not being responsible enough to try and keep his younger siblings in line, and not even growing up to be like his youngest brother (a protector), made him feel worthless.

And if _his_ brother one day just disappeared, he wouldn't know what to do.

He would never admit it, of course, but that's how things were. Whether it's said or not, protecting their siblings is supposed to be the job of the eldest. The youngest is looked after by them, so they don't get in trouble. Something to protect…and the queen lying near him in a slowly starving state had lost that something. Demeter was everything to Bombalurina, and now she was gone. (Both were gone, it seemed…)

"_It was not a mouse_!" Tugger looked back to see Alonzo and Mistoffelees walking over, care free of the worries that kept the red queen in her dazed and distant state. "It was a rat! A RAT! So it hurt when he bit me!"

"That's your excuse for losing your dinner?" Mistoffelees grinned. "Your _prey_ bit you? I saw the thing! It was a _field mouse_." Mistoffelees quickly went quiet when he saw the two cats that were lying in the dawning sun. Alonzo looked over and instantly grew serious.

The harlequin cat nervously took the first step towards the sullen queen. "Hey, Bom-bom," he said. (Everlasting Cat knows why he shortened her name to that...) "Want to come with me to catch a rat? I kind of lost him."

"It was a mouse," Mistoffelees corrected. Tugger looked hopefully to the queen, but she stared off into space, only the glimmer in her eyes from the unshed tears showing any sign of sentience. At this, the tuxedoed cat came over to Tugger, whispering to him, "Has she eaten anything lately?"

"I haven't seen her eat in days," Tugger said bitterly. He couldn't bring himself to leave the queen alone in this state, so he wouldn't very well enjoy a meal in front of a cat that was starving itself.

Mistoffelees disappeared for a few moments before returning with a chicken drumstick that seemed to have come out of thin air. "Where did that come from?" Alonzo asked, but the tuxedo ignored the question.

"Here, Bomba," he said, smiling gently. "You need your strength." But the queen sneered at the smell of the food and turned away. Mistoffelees gave Tugger a look of 'you're teaching her your bad habits,' but Tugger ignored him. Things went quiet for the while, as the three toms looked helplessly to their tribemate. They were finally brought back to reality when Skimbleshanks entered the yard.

He was looking behind him, a confused look on his face, before turning back to see the four cats in front of him. He considered this for a moment, then nodded his head as though coming to a conclusion. "Did one of you call me?"

"No," Tugger said somewhat grumpily. "What? Did you think we would just lounge around saying, 'Skimble, where is Skimble?' We have better things to do, you know." The Maine Coon realized how harsh he came off. But he was hungry, frustrated, and almost at his wits end about what to do with Bombalurina.

"I just thought I heard someone calling my name earlier," Skimbleshanks said, letting Tugger's remark go. "Then again, I think I heard someone calling Alonzo and Mistoffelees." He was a little too agitated to thoroughly consider this, (though Mistoffelees was a little shocked at his name having been called from someone outside the junkyard.)

Bombalurina shrugged her shoulders, her first response in a while. She twitched her ears and closed her eyes. Tugger sighed as he watched the queen start to drift off into another fitful sleep. He hated to see her go through this.

Suddenly, the queen shot up and looked over at Skimbleshanks. She didn't seem to care that the four toms were looking at her in shock. Then she jumped up to her feet and raced up to a pile of junk that gave her a good vantage point. Her ears were at full attention, and Tugger hadn't seen her so lively since she was actively searching for Demeter.

"Oh," Skimbleshanks whispered pitifully. "I didn't mean to get her hopes up. I wasn't even thinking it might be her…" Alonzo placed a paw on Skimbleshanks' shoulder, to let him know it was okay. But Tugger wanted to pull out his head fur over it. He managed to keep his cool appearance, though. It took a lot to remind him that the brown and orange cat was not at fault here. It was a ginger cat who was the problem…

"Demeter!" Bombalurina called. All the toms sank down. Tugger could almost hear everyone's heart break. "Demeter!" Tugger pushed passed the other toms to go and help Bombalurina down, planning on taking her back to her den or something…something other than this spectacle she was portraying.

But then she gasped. Spinning around, she pointed at the Maine Coon, a frantic look on her face. "You have to go get Munkustrap!" She then bolted down the pile of junk and raced to leave the junkyard, towards the sound of whatever it was she heard.

"Stop!" Skimbleshanks protested, as they all ran after her. "Where are you going?"

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Bombalurina asked as she spun around and addressed the Maine Coon. "GO GET MUNKU! The rest of you, come with me, NOW!" While four toms could easily over-power a queen, they wouldn't dare try and stop Bombalurina. And so, the three toms raced after her as Tugger staggered for a moment, wondering what was going on.

He then turned and ran in the direction he knew he would find the silver tabby.

* * *

Night had fallen, and Munkustrap slowly crept out of the hospital car, limping quite a bit. He saw Tugger waiting outside (as with the sudden overpopulation in the hospital car, a healthy tom would just get in the way.) The tabby made his way over to Tugger, but not before peeling the Gumby Cat, who was beckoning him back inside, off his arm. He pulled away from her forcefully, and she sighed quite audibly, but let the tom go.

"How are they?" Tugger jumped down from the tire he had been sitting on and met his brother half way. He didn't try to hide the concern on his face.

"Bomba will be fine," Munkustrap reassured him. "Skimbleshanks filled me in on what happened. He said she was so angry when she saw Macavity, she head-butted him in the stomach." The cat shook his head at the thought. "Which is why she was so dazed when we got to her."

Tugger nodded, and surely would have grinned were the situation not what it was. "And the others?"

"Skimbleshanks is fine. He really didn't fight much…not after Mistoffelees took over. He told me he had to pull Macavity off of Bombalurina, and that's how he got his injuries."

"Now I have to apologize to him for being rude," Tugger mumbled under his breath, sneering at the thought. "Heh, Misto fighting. Can you imagine that kitten fighting?"

Munkustrap gave Tugger a stern look, then assured him, "He wasn't good at it." He shook his head again. "It took me a while to get there. If Alonzo wasn't there, he could have died. We're lucky Alonzo took the brunt of it."

Tugger took in a deep breath. "Our tribe is a lot stronger than it looks." He then got a far off look in his eyes, which pleased Munkustrap to have a bit of silence for once. But maybe silence wasn't good. It just meant he would have to think. And thinking is something he would want to avoid at the moment. Thankfully, Tugger continued. "I don't know how you do it everyday, Munk. They all looked pretty bad when you brought them back. Well…except for Alonzo. He always looks that beaten up."

Munkustrap tried to smile at that, but couldn't find the will. But the Maine Coon seemed to understand. "How is she?" he asked with an uncharacteristically serious tone.

He looked away from his brother to answer this. "She's sleeping…He would have killed her. If I could have…I would have killed Macavity." His paws were curled so tightly, if his nails were retracted, they would have surely dug into his own paws.

"Why didn't you?" Tugger asked, obviously having wondered about that himself.

"She told me to stop," the tabby replied. His memory was vague, but he distinctly remembered hearing Demeter's pleading, sobbing voice. "I don't know. She was acting weird when she finally came out. Jenny says it's shock." Munkustrap thought he would go insane if he kept thinking about that little gold queen. She was safe, that was what mattered at the moment. So, he changed the subject. "We should go get Old Deuteronomy. His friends have been helping us search. And I don't think he's safe with Macavity out there, be he injured or not."

"I'll go get him, Munk," Tugger said, spinning on his heels to leave. "You have to protect the tribe."

"What? No, it's too dangerous for you out there!" Munkustrap scolded. "You're not even a fighter. You're probably less of a fighter than Mistoffelees!" Tugger twitched his ear at hearing this and was glaring at his brother, but Munkustrap paid no mind. He was still trying to block out the look of fear on his long lost Demeter's face. The fact that she looked so different…The screams of terror and fear…And the very prominent, 'I hate you.'

Just then, Alonzo came out, holding his side where Jenny had thoroughly dressed it. "Bastard cut me deep," he said, somewhat melodramatically. At this statement, Tugger and Munkustrap looked at each other. Alonzo quickly said, "Now that you two are bastards! 'Cause, you know, you're brothers and all." The death glare from the other toms made Alonzo go quiet.

It was Tugger that broke the silence. "Someone has to go and get Old D…someone who can defend himself."

"I'll go," Munkustrap said sternly. He needed to do _something_.

"No, you should stay," Alonzo agreed with the Maine Coon. "I'll go."

"You're more hurt than Munk," Tugger exclaimed.

"I may be more hurt than him, but if something happens to the tribe, at least he'll be here to protect it," Alonzo said.

"No, no," Munkustrap insisted. "You stay with the tribe. I'll go to find Deuteronomy. I know how to fight Macavity. And if he comes here, you'll have the tribe to back you up. He was hurt as well."

But Alonzo became more adamant about his position. "If you already fought him so much, then he will think twice before coming to the tribe. And why would he come after me, anyway?"

"He would come after _Old Deuteronomy_," Munkustrap reminded him. "And if you need to defend him, I would have a better chance of fighting him off."

"Then why don't we both go?" Alonzo asked. "If our concern is now for Deuteronomy and not the tribe?"

"_We're concerned about both_. No one can defend the tribe if we BOTH go to see Old Deuteronomy!"

"Why can't I defend the tribe?" Tugger asked indignantly.

"Because you suck," Alonzo and Munku said at the same time. Tugger glared at the two.

"At fighting," Munkustrap corrected. But the Maine Coon hardly felt any better. That's when Jenny came out and shushed them all. The three toms looked at each other, before smiling apologetically to the Gumby cat and falling silent. She shuffled back inside, and left the three to (hopefully) not talk so loudly while she was treating patients.

"We'll go," said two voices at once. The three toms peered around, startled. Tantomile and Coricopat walked forward, both with only a hint of concern on their faces.

"You two can't defend yourselves," Alonzo said, fur on end. (He hardly ever talked to the two, and frankly, they freaked him out.)

"But we can sense danger," Coricopat said. "And two sets of ears are better than one." The three looked at each other. It seemed like a good solution, so Munkustrap nodded.

"Be careful when you bring him," the tabby said as the three toms followed the twins to the entrance of the junkyard. "He's old. Make sure you're not followed. We don't want Macavity after him. And most importantly…" But before he could finish his important point, the twins stopped and looked forward. Following their gaze, the three Jellicles could see two cats slowly walking into the junkyard.

Munkustrap stood at attention and hissed lowly. Alonzo seemed prepared for battle, though he did groan slightly and put a paw on his side. Tugger seemed to think preparing to fight somehow involved fixing his head fur… But the mystical twins simply sat, and the silver tabby could see they hardly seemed worried.

As the two orange tabbies came into view and finally entered the junkyard, Munkustrap could see that one was very hurt, and had his wounds treated with very…very…very rough nursing techniques. (Well, at least he wasn't bleeding to death.) The queen looked up with a worried expression on her face. They looked almost exactly alike, aside from their gender. And the queen seemed very concerned with her…twin's…current state. She was struggling to hold him up and, being small as she was, looked as though she were about to collapse.

"Who are you?" Munkustrap hissed. "You…" He sniffed the air around them. "That scent…it's…"

"Macavity!" Alonzo said, ready to charge the two, but Munkustrap held him back.

"And Demeter," the silver tom said, puzzled.

"We're 'er friends," the queen said brightly, looking as though she would be hopping up and down were she not weighed down by the weight of her brother. "I'm Rumpleteazah and this is Mungojerrie. We 'elped 'er get away from Macavity."

"How do we know that?" Tugger asked, more impressed than angry.

"'ow do you think this 'appened to my brothah?" Rumpleteazer asked defiantly. (Mungojerrie took this cue to wave weakly.)

"Prove it," Alonzo said just as defiantly.

"Well," Rumpleteazer began, "One of you must be that one guy she kept talking about. What was his name again Mungo?" She looked up to her brother with wide eyes and ears drooped in exhaustion.

"Mistah Flap?" Mungojerrie asked. "Lint Trap?" he shrugged.

"Mumpislap!" Rumpleteazer said, her paw bolting in the air triumphantly. The four cats looked at Munkustrap, who seemed to have a dark cloud forming over him.

"You mean Munkustrap?" he asked.

"Yeah, you must be 'im," the little queen said. She looked like she was going to say more on the subject, but between balancing Mungojerrie and trying to stay upright herself, she abandoned that idea and went on with trying to prove who they were. "And…and…uh…she said that a queen would be able to help my brother. LennyFennyMots?"

"Pennyfo'yourThoughts?"

"Jenny. Any. Dots." Tugger emphasized. But Munkustrap looked down at the mystical twins for approval. They nodded to him, which was all he needed to know. Silently, he went over to the two and took the full weight of the injured tom on him, while Rumpleteazer staggered slightly. Tugger and Alonzo watched with some amazement. With that one small act, Munkustrap had accepted them into the tribe. "Munk…"

"He needs help," Munkustrap said simply. He could really smell Demeter's scent on them, though he tried hard not to wonder why more on the tom than the queen. (Not that he didn't handle him with the least amount of care as he could with this thought.) As he walked the nearly feinted tom and his sister, he asked in a hushed voice, "Was she scared?"

Rumpleteazer looked over from her brother before looking to Munkustrap. She seemed to be battling two different urges: one to protect her brother and one of frustration to the tom asking her the question. "She cried every night. She didn't think anyone would save 'er." Munkustrap's heart felt like it had ripped in two. There was a lot of contempt in the one named Rumpleteazer's voice when she said what she said. He knew she had a lot she wanted to yell at him if they all weren't so tired.

He would have saved her, if he knew where to find her. He would have done anything to get her back safely. Not once had he ever wanted a hair harmed on her head. And yet here she was now, barely alive. And even the ones who had supposedly helped her seemed on the verge of death.

As Mungojerrie was brought into the little "hospital" and placed down, he gave Jenny simple instructions to give him quick treatment. While this happened, Rumpleteazer snuck over to Demeter's bed. She gasped in horror at the new wounds and bruises covering the gold and black queen. She spun around, anger and confusion apparent on her face. Munkustrap shook his head sadly, and shrugged with exhaustion and regret. The little tabby queen withheld her attack on the emotion ridden tom and swooped to the side of her brother, nuzzling his paw as he finally was able to get some much needed rest and care.

Munkustrap sat next to Demeter's bed, staring at the beaten queen in front of him. She lay fast asleep, but was hardly relaxed. It seemed at any moment she would spring up, back arched, ready to strike. Oddly enough, she didn't look as fragile as she did before her entire ordeal. Sure, her body had taken quite a bludgeoning, but she definitely had changed. His 'something to protect' had to protect herself, and it may have changed her for the worse.

He wanted to take her in his arms and console her, tell her she would never be hurt again. Everything would be better now that he was here, and he would never let anything happen to her again. But it shouldn't have happened to begin with. It seemed he couldn't do anything. He couldn't protect a damn thing. He did it all wrong, and Demeter paid for his actions.

Gently, he put his paw to her unscratched cheek and stroked it as lightly as he could. He had to fight the urge to grab her and hold her. She would freak out, and there is no telling how she would react waking up here. So he laid his head sadly on the edge of her little makeshift bed, so close he could almost touch her, but she would never know. He didn't want to do anything to further harm the broken queen.

* * *

_A/N: Blah, I was hoping to update yesterday...anyway..._

_TigerLily: YUP! the ending it planned out, and...well,it might be subject to change, but probably not incredibly. I have the rough idea of how i want it to end. ((grin)) Fear of unhappy endings? I gotta keep that in mind.  
Demo: Sweetness and Violence aren't two words you hear put together in a sentence often O.o  
Enkeli-kitsu: Heh, be sure to tell me before if you wanna publish it on your website. And a novel? Heh, it's long enough to be one, ironically. Maybe someday I can get a conglomeration of my stories published, like _Wicked _or _Phantom_. I can dream!  
Satin: I was wondering if you abandoned my story, lol. But that's ok, we all have lives. Yes, the kitten was Jemima. As for the Munku question, that WILL be answered, don't worry. I feel bad though, when you ask me questions and I answer with "you'll see", **but don't stop asking questions**, cause it lets me know what's unclear! And thanks for reviewing again!_


	26. Of Warmth and Love

_A/N: Now let's see how well you remember the first chapter..._**  
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* * *

Chapter 26 - Of Warmth and Love**

Bombalurina laid her head against her sister's bed. It seemed that Demeter just didn't want to wake up again. But the red queen stayed by the gold queen's bed, for fear of her sister waking up and finding herself alone. She barely left her side, and if she were alone, she would have starved to death by now. But Jennyanydots was being very forceful in giving Bombalurina mouse cakes to eat. Slowly, she was starting to get meat back on her bones. Now that her sister was there, she felt like things would get better.

Demeter shook and panted as she seemed to be running away from something in her dream. Bombalurina quickly took up her sister's paw and delicately stroked her cheek. "It's okay, Demeter. He can't hurt you anymore! You're here with us! Just open your eyes." Munkustrap had come in without the red queen realizing it, and was standing next to her, staring down at the queen who was having yet another nightmare. Bombalurina thought they had switched roles in this past week. Now he was looking particularly thin, as though he hadn't been eating. His eyes looked so tired, as well.

Not that he didn't look this way when Demeter was missing. But Munkustrap took to the streets every free moment he had, and the other cats were often scared he would never return. But now that Demeter was here, it seemed he found nothing to occupy his time but to sit and worry about the gold and black queen. She didn't know what was bothering him more: seeing her in this state, or knowing that when she woke up, she would probably still hate him.

He held out his paw, and gently brought it to Demeter's face. But even the gentlest touch made her spasm in her sleep, making Munkustrap pull back quickly, looking distraught. "It's not just you," Bombalurina assured him. "She usually does that when someone touches her."

"Well," a voice behind them said. The two turned to see Rumpleteazer sitting on the floor, leaning her back against her brother's bed. Mungojerrie was asleep himself at the moment. "What would _you_ do if every touch you felt for the past few months were violent ones?" Bombalurina hissed at the little orange tabby, but Munkustrap put a paw on the red queen's shoulder, who let out a frustrated sigh. Every time Rumpleteazer looked at them, it seemed she didn't deem them trustworthy.

"Why is she here again?" Bombalurina asked. Rumpleteazer smiled to Jennyanydots when she came over to her, quickly getting out of the way as the Gumby Cat changed Mungojerrie's dressings.

"We owe Demeter's life to them," Munkustrap said softly so only Bombalurina could hear.

"Why does she hate us?" The red queen muttered under her breath as she glared at the foreign queen, who was too busy helping Jennyanydots to pay any attention.

Munkustrap seemed to shudder slightly, his face blank, his eyes listless. "Because I'm sure Demeter hated us for a while," he admitted, his voice cracking. Bombalurina gave a look of surprise to Munkustrap, but he wasn't looking back. Then she thought of the prospect of what he said. Her own sister hating her? Why would she do that? Surely Munkustrap was just angry at what happened when Demeter finally came out from behind the trashcans, because her sister would NEVER hate _her_.

The tension between the three cats was broken when Old Deuteronomy gracefully entered the room. Mistoffelees looked up from his bed, getting up very carefully, as his injuries still weighed him down. Rumpleteazer smiled shyly, and ducked behind Jennyanydots, who was smiling over to the Tribe Leader. He had been there often, but he had such intensity about him lately, that the only way the other cats knew how to react was with more respect and awe towards him.

Munkustrap looked over at his grandfather, who came over to him and put an arm around his shoulder. The silver tabby let out a tired sigh, before the Tribe Leader let go, walking over to Bombalurina. She moved out of the way, gently placing her sister's paw back down. Then, Old Deuteronomy placed a paw on Demeter's forehead, and her nightmares seemed to stop, as her breathing went back to normal. Amazed, Munkustrap and Bombalurina stood next to each other, and Jenny scurried over, as though something amazing had just happened. "Come home, Demeter," the old cat said very softly, solemnly, in a voice that reflected his years.

* * *

Night…what a lonesome time. Everything was dark. The world seemed to have abandoned her, the gold and black queen, who now stood alone. Her attackers had disappeared, and she was back in good health. But the dark that should have been the night engulfed her, and Demeter was aware that this cold that surrounded her was not of the familiar darkness of the midnight sky. She knew the only escape was to wake up. But she couldn't bring herself to. She couldn't will herself awake. But she had so much to do…She had so much to tell her loved ones.

Everything was so cold around her, she realized. And she couldn't really move or speak. She watched helplessly as big blue eyes looked down on her, before turning and leaving. '_Wait!_' she wanted to cry. '_Why are you leaving? I'm so cold!_' But even when _she_ was there, she felt it too. _Her mother_ was cold. She could never warm Demeter up. The only thing that could was the little red fluff-ball that curled up around her.

Glass green eyes. A flick of the tail, and he was gone. What was that? For the longest time, all she knew was her sister and her mother, and now so many new senses. But mostly the chill of the night.

Though they were soon surrounded, only her sister would dare touch her, and she hardly had enough heat to spare for the both of them. A fake, deceiving warmth picked her up, and Demeter realized it was like a dying flame…

She felt herself falling asleep in a fit of shivers. But then, when things were getting particularly dark, there was something familiar. A soothing voice…surrounded by her sister on one side and something else on the other. She knew it to be love. And she wasn't cold anymore.

'_I'm home_,' she said in her dream.

Slowly, she opened her eyes. For a moment, she tried to orient herself. Always surrounded by eyes! But recently, this was not a positive thing. They were there to attack her again! Not again! No, not again! She jumped up, hissing, taking swipes and growling softly. There were voices and figures trying to take shape before her eyes, but they wouldn't show up to her terrified eyes. They just wouldn't come into view. "Get away, please!" she pleaded weakly.

Warmth…

And for one moment, everything seemed clear. She saw Old Deuteronomy in front of her, and a sob broke from her voice. "Deuteronomy!" she cried, tears falling down her cheeks. The old cat smiled warmly to the waking queen, who hugged him tightly, not wanting to let go. She felt like she could finally find some solemn in the fatherly love of the cat who had doted over her while she was refusing to wake up. In his ear, she whispered, "I never thought I'd find my way home…"

* * *

Demeter lay in her bed, not wanting to look at anyone, talk to anyone, eat anything, or much less do anything. Everything felt so strange now that she was back. When Jennyanydots would give her food, she would reluctantly eat it (though it felt so comforting to eat food she had grown up with.) When said cat would try and comfort her or put a paw on her shoulder, Demeter would instinctually back away. She was trying to remind herself that she was safe, but it would take some work…and she tried to ignore the heartbroken looks on the faces of those who she backed away from, to the point she just didn't want to talk to them at all.

One part of her thought that they deserved to be hurt. She was, after all, abandoned by them. But her sister was the one least daunted by her sister's change in heart, seeming determined to act like everything was normal for Demeter's sake. But there were moments Bombalurina excused herself with a chocked up voice and raced out of the car.

It was even worse when Munkustrap came in. He looked as awful as she felt, though she couldn't bear to look at him at times. She turned her face away, and scooted into a corner, feeling like she wanted to scream at him to leave her in peace. But she had enough control over her otherwise erratic emotions to be quiet about it.

In general, she just felt off about all the attention. All that brought her lately was negative results, in many ways. So she kept very quiet, not wanting to talk to anyone, for fear of what she might say, and the consequences of her words.

"Everyone's name here is so difficult…Mico, was your name?" Rumpleteazer caught the attention of the four cats that were left in the car. Mistoffelees seemed to be healing nicely, but Jennyanydots was refusing to let him go. About a week had passed since Demeter had awoken, and they were all slowly healing.

"Misto, they call me," said the cat, getting up on his bed and smiling over to the tabby. "You're…" he thought about this for a moment. "Um….Teazer!" The queen nodded, and Mistoffelees was quite proud of himself for having gotten this right. "I've been meaning to talk to you, but I didn't think you really wanted to talk to…well…any of us."

Demeter sat up in her bed and looked over at the two. The twins had been very quiet since they had gotten here, very unlike their nature, but she's sure it was because they felt out of place here. Rumpleteazer seemed to be beaming at the attention, though. "Ah, that's so sweet! Whatcha wanna talk about!" The queen crawled over to the black and white's bed and sat, looking up intently. Mistoffelees seemed a little put off by her eagerness, glancing over to Demeter for help. But Demeter turned her head and pretended to be interested in something on the wall.

"Uh…well…you came with Demeter, right?" he asked. The queen nodded. "Are you going to….become part of the tribe?"

"Well," she began, looking back to her brother, who was watching the entire conversation from his own bed. "You're Munki-type-cat seemed okay with us, but 'e's not the leadah, is 'e?" Mistoffelees shook his head, but before he could say anything, the queen continued. "That big fluffy fellow said we should go talk to 'im after we're all bettah! But I don't know where to find 'im. What do ya think, Jerrie? Think you're up to going to see 'im?"

Mungojerrie propped himself up. He held his stomach where his worst wounds were, but there was a gleam in his eye. "I 'ave to get outta 'ere, Teazah! Smell some fresh air again! It would do me some good, dontcha know?" Rumpleteazer giggled at her brother's eagerness before turning to Demeter.

"Do you wanna take us?" she asked brightly. Mistoffelees looked between the two queens. The thought of leaving the junkyard was a little daunting to Demeter. She was torn between the need to get away from all the crowds and the hub-bub over her, but she hardly wanted to feel so unprotected again. But it WAS Old Deuteronomy's…and she felt like she needed to talk with him, if no one else. So she nodded, and then shakily rose to her feet as Rumpleteazer clapped her paws before helping Mungojerrie up.

"Hey, wait a minute!" Mistoffelees said. He went to get up, but after a fiasco with Jennyanydots telling him to sit his little tail back down on the bed, he feared the wrath of the Gumby Cat and stayed where he was. "Demeter shouldn't go out alone! You're not even healed yet!" Rumpleteazer looked out the door to see if anyone was nearby, before waving her brother and adoptive sister over to her. "You shouldn't be leaving! What will Jenny say! Stop! At least wait for someone to take you!" A wave of Mungojerrie's tail, and the three were gone.

Mistoffelees sighed and leaned back against the wall. "No one ever listens to me."

* * *

Walking down the streets, the two healing cats took to a slow promenade. Rumpleteazer, however, was racing around down the streets, before stopping on a dime, spinning around in circles that were bound to make her dizzy, stopping, teetering slightly with a silly grin on her face, then racing back to her brother and Demeter at full speed, her ears back, eyes wide, with an expression on her face that said, 'Look what I can do!'

There was a bit of arguing with her brother after this about "Showing off" when he couldn't even lift his paw over his head, and before Demeter knew it, they were at the Vicarage Wall, where Old Deuteronomy rested his tired, weary body. "Huh," Demeter marveled, causing the other two to look at her in surprise. (She hadn't really talked to them, either.) "We're here."

"That we are!" Mungojerrie said cheerfully. (It was good to have a jovial Mungojerrie back.) "And…uh… 'e's that one cat who…you know…decides our fate, right?" The two looked up at the old cat that was now before them.

Demeter nodded to the two. Then she looked up to the old cat with a delicate smile on her face. She was glad to see him. He made everything feel better. "Old Deuteronomy!" At this, the Tribe leader looked down upon the three and smiled.

"Oh, I see you brought some friends," he said with a warm smile on his face.

"'Ello, gov'nah!" Rumpleteazer said brightly, waving up to him. Mungojerrie whacked her on the shoulder, to which Rumpleteazer made a face and covered her mouth, as though trying to take back what she said.

But Old Deuteronomy laughed heartily at this. "I'm glad to see you all up and about. You are looking well." Mungojerrie had taken to standing behind Demeter, but Rumpleteazer was more obvious in her need to hide from Old Deuteronomy, as she crouched down behind her brother. "Will you tell me about your friends, my dear? I have barely had a chance to talk with them when I came to visit."

Demeter spoke softly when she introduced the two. "Mungojerrie got his wounds trying to help me get away from Macavity's tribe," she explained, pointing her paw to the cat, who smiled awkwardly. "And Rumpleteazer was like a sister to me when we were all in Macavity's…If it weren't for these two, I don't know what would have happened to me." Rumpleteazer and Mungojerrie looked at each other with a shocked expression. "They gave me shelter, food, care, and strength. I am very grateful to them for everything they have done for me."

"Aww," Rumpleteazer breathed, as the two seemed embarrassed. "Thanks, love. That means a lot!" Mungojerrie nodded in agreement, but seemed too chocked up to say anything. He turned away, mumbling about having something in his eyes.

"Then we owe the return of our sweet Demeter to these two," Old Deuteronomy concluded. The two cats didn't seem to realize they were being heralded as heroes. "You two are welcome in this tribe as long as you wish to be part of it."

Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer looked at each other, before the latter walked forward, clearing her throat. "Um…If you don' like Macavity…why would you trust us?"

"Even that Mondo…Mumphi…Munchy…_that one cat_ didn't trust us when we first came in," Mungojerrie said. "An' you're the leadah! We didn't think…well…" He trailed off.

"Old Deuteronomy took me and my sister in when we were kittens," Demeter said softly. "He has always opened his tribe to those who have a good heart, and been like a father to all of us." She looked up at the old cat, who was beaming down at her.

"Thank you, Demeter," He said, before turning to the two. "I'm sure you two are used to a leader such as Macavity, and companions to the same accord, but if you will give the tribe a chance, I'm sure you will find many friends among them." The twins looked at each other, then to Demeter, who nodded. They then smiled up at Old Deuteronomy. "Now, if you will give me a moment, I would like to speak with Demeter. But please stay close. I'm sure she would enjoy your accompaniment back to the junkyard." The two nodded, Rumpleteazer playfully punching Demeter in the shoulder (which Demeter restrained a hiss at) before taking off down the street, in complete view of the wall.

Demeter jumped up the path to the top of the vicarage wall, sitting down beside Old Deuteronomy. She hugged him, much to his surprise. But he gave her a hug back. "If you want to tell me, I'm here to listen."

Demeter hardly needed any prompting and she began to cry and tell the old cat of some of the less descriptive things of her treatment when she was kit-napped. She couldn't bear to tell him the worse details, as it hurt too much to replay them in her own head, let alone try and describe them. "I never thought I'd get out of there. And I hated everyone for abandoning me, even though I knew I shouldn't. I felt so alone! Why didn't they come find me? I don't think they did ANYTHING!" she finished, feeling like a child who was throwing a tantrum. She took a moment to breath, pulling herself together, not wanting to look at the cat she just told most of her ordeal to. Then she tried to ebb her own tears by burying her face in the old cat's coat.

He stayed silent until the queen was done sobbing. She then sheepishly apologized before drawing herself away, sniffling.

"Demeter," he said with a voice that seemed to be preparing itself to deal a great blow. The queen looked up, shocked at the tone of voice he was using. Old Deuteronomy looked very serious. (She didn't like where this was going.) "I know you must have felt very alone," he began. "But the others did everything they could to find you. But we are a small tribe. While Macavity is good at hiding his tracks, we have alliances we can count on." He let that linger in the air for a moment as Demeter tried to comprehend it.

"So…" she said, trying to sort out her reasoning. "So, you're saying that…your alliances with other tribes could have...come to find me?" The old cat nodded. "Then…if you have so many friends, then why couldn't they come after me? Macavity may be a criminal mastermind, but there are so many others in his tribe that are…well…not."

Old Deuteronomy looked grimly to the queen before him. "Munkustrap used the alliances to the best of his ability," he began. Demeter's frowned at the sound of the name before she realized what he had said. She stared back at the cat, still not comprehending. "But…if he had gotten any closer to finding you, I'm afraid, he would have himself been killed."

"What are you saying?" Demeter asked. But Old Deuteronomy stayed quiet, as though he couldn't find the words. It took a few moments before it hit her. "You…led his search efforts astray?" She stood up, not knowing what to do with herself. That couldn't be true...

"Demeter," he said with a calm and patience that made her sit back down. "You have to understand. You know the size of Macavity's tribe. My grandson would not listen to me when I told him I would have others looking for you. Even if he wasn't killed in his search, he would have surely been killed by Macavity's tribe. Though we were all looking for you, all worried about you, I thought to have someone in Macavity's tribe look after you."

"You mean THOSE TWO?" Demeter said, pointing across the street at the giggling twins.

"No. Let me continue," he said patiently. Demeter bit back her words and tried to hear what he was saying, though she had to stop herself from biting her paw. "Every time I thought I could employ the help of someone, they would back out. They were frightened of Macavity's punishment for betrayers. Demeter, please do not hate the others. They did not know what I was doing in my efforts to keep all in the tribe safe."

"Except for me," she said bitterly.

"Especially you," he said patiently. "I did not believe that Macavity intended to hurt you."

"Why not?" Demeter asked, shocked.

"Because he was not fond of many things, but he always seemed to enjoy your company." Baffled, Demeter sat there. "I'll understand whatever you may think of my actions. But you must know, Demeter, that I always had your best interest at hand." Demeter thought she saw tears begin to form in the old cat's eyes. "And I'm sorry for what they did to you." She would have loved to shift her hate onto him, but she couldn't. She couldn't hate Old Deuteronomy. (She wasn't even sure she was allowed to!) And what was worse, she understood why he did what he did. But that didn't necessarily mean she had to forgive him just then.

"Demeter!" the two turned as Bombalurina came running down the street towards the wall. Rumpleteazer and Mungojerrie followed closely behind the oblivious queen. "Everlasting Cat, we have been _worried sick _about you! Mistoffelees said you went out with those newbies, and we were looking all over the junkyard for you!" Demeter looked over to Old Deuteronomy, who nodded his head over to Bombalurina, telling the gold queen to go. Seeing the heartbreak on his face made her hesitate momentarily. She then gave the old cat a hug, before jumping down to join her sister.

"Well, 'ello!" Mungojerrie said, looking Bombalurina over. She gave a start when she realized the two twins were behind her. "I don' think we 'ave been propahly introduced!" He puffed out his chest and said in his best posh voice, "My name is Mungojerrie!"

Rumpleteazer rolled her eyes. "Toms…" she said under her breath, looking at Bombalurina with a hint of annoyance.

"An' this is my sistah," he said dryly, pointing his paw to her.

"Demi…" Bombalurina called cautiously to her sister, as there was suddenly a drooling tom at her side. "Can you hurry up a bit?" Demeter smiled softly as she walked gingerly over to the three.

Mungojerrie had pulled out some jewelry out of nowhere. "This is fo' a lovely queen such as yourself."

Rumpleteazer, who had decided on helping her brother, pointed at the necklace and said, "Now, those are QUALITY Woolworth pearls."

"Demi…" Bombalurina said warily, two matching tabbies on either side of her. Demeter laughed lightly as she caught up to them. Bombalurina looked up with some shock at the queen before her.

"I wouldn't take them if I were you, Bombie," she said softly. "You're beautiful enough as it is. You don't have to wear something like that. Ack!" Bombalurina had raced up and hugged her sister, smiling as she nearly crushed her. Though Demeter wasn't too fond of this attention, she patted her sister on the back.

"I missed you so much," Bombalurina said, her voice quavering. She let go, stroking her sisters cheek. "And you smiled!"

"I…" Demeter said, caught a little off guard. "I missed you, too."

"Well," Mungojerrie said in some disappointment, looking at the pearls in his paws. "Well, then you'll need them Teazah." He handed them to his sister, who huffed up.

"What is THAT supposed to mean?" she said, hitting him on his arm.

The four of them walked back to the junkyard, Demeter looking back at Old Deuteronomy, who was smiling to her. He was too old to be mad at...She had to forgive him. She had to understand. And she had to heal.

While they walked off, Bombalurina was hugging her sister. And Demeter was glad to be with her family again.

* * *

_A/N : I had trouble with this chapter, cause I had to combine two of them, so it's...extra long. So sorry for making it a longer read than usual! But it might be a bad habit during the last few chapters, so seven/eight page quota out the window from here on out! I'll try not to make it five million pages._

_Tigerlily: Like I said, it will be about 33 chapters. Didn't mean for it to be that long...And yay! Chocolate!  
Demo: Me? Desert a story? But I can't just leave it hanging like that! The characters need a finished story, whether it be now or (Everlasting Cat forbid) ten years from now! Anyways, lol, I can't wait to finish this story so i can work on my others. This one was initially meant for practice, and it has served me really well. Now I have to see how my endings fair, lol.  
Lozzypop: Apparently I have a knack of making people feel sorry for the characters, lol! And Munk IS very huggable, isn't he? So easy to just wanna pick him up and go "I WUV YOU" and crush the little kitty to death, but quite..._

_Now, I just wanna ask a moment. My bird, Rocio, went to Emergency recently, and is now being treated for infection. I know it's weird to ask in a fic about cats to pray for my bird, but she could use your prayers. Thank you! _


	27. Let It All Out

_A/N: I'm soooo sorry about not updating as soon as usual. Ever had one of those weeks that tried to kill you with stress? Anyways, please, enjoy, enjoy!_

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Chapter 27- Let It All Out**

The sun was coming down over the Jellicle Junkyard by the time the four cats came back. From a distance, Demeter could see Munkustrap and Jennyanydots sighing with relief upon seeing her. Inwardly, she wanted to race towards them and hug them for being concerned about her, but outwardly, she bit back a smile. Skimbleshanks, who had been trying to calm his mate down, also looked visibly relieved. But her eyes shifted to Munkustrap, who seemed to be having a similar inward fight over whether or not to race up to them and hug them. Her evaluation of the situation was interrupted by the Mungojerrie nudging the gold and black queen. His sister was grinning mischievously. "'Ey, do you think those two would get mad if we go up and talk to them?"

Demeter followed his gaze to Jennyanydots and Skimbleshanks. "Um, they shouldn't," she said, looking curiously between the two.

Rumpleteazer pulled her brother close and whispered in his ear, before he turned and whispered in her ear. She put her paws over her mouth to conceal a giggle before they smiled roguishly to each other and ran up to the tiger-striped tabby and orange and brown cat. The twins looked down at their own coats in a very deliberate fashion, before looking at the other two in the same fashion. They then swung out their paws and yelled at the same time, "Mum! Dad! We finally found you!" before bringing the startled older cats into a four-way hug.

There was a moment of silence. Then…

"What are you…LET GO OF US!" Skimbleshanks pushed the two cats away as Jennyanydots looked baffled. "Of all the idiotic things I've had to put up with…and I've put up with many--!" Skimbleshanks continued on his rant as the twins ran over and hid behind Demeter.

"I though' you said they wouldn' get mad!" Rumpleteazer said, winking at Demeter,

"I didn't think you were going to do _that_!" said the gold queen.

Jennyanydots was rushing over to the two, yelling, "Would you stop your silly antics? Mungojerrie has to rest! Are you listening to me? Come back here! He needs to heal!" The two raced off, Rumpleteazer nearly falling forward as she giggled and ran. "Oh, why doesn't anyone listen anymore?" The Gumby Cat turned and gave Demeter a stern look. "You go rest, too. I won't have you running around in this state…" She took a moment to think about what she said. She then hugged the young queen. "And we're glad you're up an about." She then took off after the fleeing patient, Skimbleshanks racing past, before stopping, turning around, and patting Demeter on the shoulder, then turning to catch up with Jennyanydots.

Demeter found herself laughing at the antics. She only stopped when she saw Bombalurina staring at her, teary eyed. "I'm sorry," the red queen said, turning and wiping her eyes. "I'm just so glad."

Demeter laughed nervously before looking around. Someone was missing. "Wh…where did Munku go?" she found herself asking. Bombalurina looked shocked before a gentle smile went on her face. She shrugged her shoulder. "I…kind of wanted to talk to him…sort of…" she admitted, looking off to where the cat was last seen.

"Going to apologize to him?" Bombalurina asked, taking her sister by the shoulder and leading her back to the old car.

"Apologize?" she asked more hotly than she meant to. "For what?"

"Well…for what happened when…you know…we found you." Still bitter, Demeter thought that technically _she_ was the one who found _them_. But she tried to remember what Old Deuteronomy had said, and did her best to push those feelings aside. "I mean, he was pretty hurt."

Demeter looked up curiously at her sister. "About what?" she asked.

The red queen looked shocked. "You don't even remember? You know…when you said…" Demeter waited for her to continue, but it seemed that Bombalurina thought it would click in the other's head. It didn't. And they stared at each other, waiting for the other to continue. Finally, when Bombalurina realized Demeter had no idea what she was talking about, she continued. "When you told him you hated him."

"WHAT?" Demeter said loud enough to scare even herself. (Not that that was a very difficult thing to do as the queen had grown even more neurotic as time passed…) "When did I say that?" She tried to think back as far as she could. She remembered being behind the trashcans…and that terrifying paw coming after her. With a shudder, she tried not to think about that. But, that was all she could focus on, and not wanting to fall into a fit of shivers, she forced herself to stop. "Bombie," she said, looking up to her sister. "I never told him I hate him." (Or at least she never meant to say it out loud.)

"Oh, yes you did," Bombalurina said. "I was standing right there when you said it!"

"You were there?" Demeter asked. She felt a little bit of anger rising back in her, but now she had no idea why. What was wrong with her? Her emotions were all over the place! She had to do a better job of keeping them in check. She hardly wanted to alienate her family from her after fighting so hard to get back.

"He was _so_ hurt," Bombalurina said.

"Yeah, I got that," Demeter said curtly. She didn't want to hear anymore about this whole ordeal. "I'm not going to apologize for something I didn't even realize I said."

"_Do_ you hate him?" Bombalurina asked gently.

"What! How can you even ask me something like that?" But Demeter had to stop herself from saying anything more. (This could get out of hand.) Finally, after she felt that little ball of energy waiting to burst free calm itself, she sighed and said patiently, "I don't hate him. And he shouldn't think that I do."

"Well, he does," Bombalurina said, putting her paws on her hips. "Do you know what it's like to think someone you care for hates you? Well, I do! And let me tell you, it hurts! I think you should go apologize to him. Or not even that, just explain to him that you didn't mean it! Because he has been torturing himself over this since we found you, and I don't want you to hate me!" Bombalurina put her paw over her mouth, before putting it back down to her side and trying to regain her composure. "_Him_. I don't want you to hate _him_."

Demeter stared at her sister in surprise, before shaking her head. "No…no, Bombie. I don't hate you. I never have. I never could. I love you so much! I wanted to come back to you so much! Where did you get that idea from?" The red queen turned her head, not wanting to look at the other, but unable to bite back her tears. "Please, Bombie. I don't want to make you cry. If I ever did anything to make you think that, I'm so sorry. I…well…haven't been myself lately…"

The red queen tried to laugh it off, wiping her tears. "Of course you haven't. I'm being ridiculous…being so hard on my sister after everything you've been through." She put her arm around Demeter and laid her head against her, sniffling slightly. "You sure you don't hate me?" she asked in a squeaky voice that threatened to turn into sobs at any moment.

"I could never," Demeter said, hugging her sister back. Bombalurina smiled. For that moment, they were content in the knowledge that they really do care about each other, and never could hate each other.

Then Bombalurina grabbed Demeter's paw and dragged her along. "Now, you have to talk to Munkustrap," the queen said with a tone of finality, as the moon was beginning to rise.

* * *

Demeter looked up at the cat who was sitting by himself, staring at the moon. Realizing she was the one who put him up there by the words she couldn't remember telling him, she knew she had to be the one to bring him away from there. Why had she said that in the first place, anyways? She knew that wasn't true…

Losing her nerve, she began to walk back to where she came from, where Bombalurina was waiting for her, (or rather, where her sister was blocking her exit.) But as she walked, the gears in her head were turning. It wasn't his fault she was kit-napped by Macavity. And true, no one really knew where Macavity's den was. (She came from there not too long ago, and she still isn't sure where it was, herself!) Even when he was in the tribe, his den was all but impossible to find. But if he did know where she was, she's sure he would have come to get her.

So, she turned around to go talk to the silver tabby.

But walking towards him, she remembered how _awful_ she felt. All those dreams about being attacked...and those of him not caring. When Bombalurina was missing, no one seemed to care at all! It was only her who was hurting so much, it seemed…

Angered by that thought and how bad it felt to know no one was looking for her, she turned on her heels to leave again.

That wasn't true, though. Munkustrap was looking for Bombalurina, and even Tugger was worried, though he didn't show it in quite the same way as she herself did. Maybe they were all being brave for Demeter's sake when her sister was the one who had gone missing. And, after all, those were just dreams that made her feel so neglected and frightened of being alone. They weren't proof of anything but her own inner turmoil.

So she turned back to where he was, not before being thrown into another pattern of thought.

Those dreams made her feel so alone. It wasn't the first time in her life she felt alone. Yes, her sister was always there for her, but what about her mother? Where was she? And Grizabella? She simply left the entire tribe, which was a slap in the face to Demeter. She was just a kitten, and twice, she was left alone! It seemed her life was filled with people she couldn't trust…cats who let her down.

With a trembling sigh, she turned to leave.

But not everyone couldn't be trusted. There have been many in her life she could always count on - her sister for one. Then there was Old Deuteronomy, who always had a warm heart. While she knew that he was the reason Munkustrap didn't go and find her, she knew he was doing his best. So why was she sitting and pacing about whether or not she should talk to the cat she once claimed to hate? He was hardly at fault here! True, hate was not an easy emotion to alter, but she knew she didn't _hate_ him. That wasn't quite the emotion she was trying to get rid of. In fact, she was pushing away an emotion she didn't want to feel… An emotion she felt for the cat that had always been there for her, no matter how many times she tried to push others away.

He was always there….

So why was she pacing when all she wanted to do was bury her face in his beautiful fur and cry?

That thought ran through her like a lightening bolt. Why did she feel like _that_! Looking up at the cat who seemed to be as far off in thought as she was, she felt all these thoughts and feelings welling up in her until all she wanted to do was scream at the top of her lungs for it all to stop. It was too much in her still fragile state; a barely mending cat containing so much emotion. There had to be an outlet somehow that wouldn't cause her to break! But how was she going to go about that?

Demeter knew now that she couldn't go up to Munkustrap _now_. Her mission had been so clear in the beginning…apologize to him for saying that she hated him, and hurting him. She didn't mean it _towards him_. She hated being alone. She despised what she went through. She detested everyone in her life that abandoned her. But it was his unfortunate luck that he had to be the one to receive all that despair she kept bottled up inside. Why did it have to be the cat she cared for most?

Suddenly, she realized how ridiculous she felt, and groaned audibly to herself without realizing it. Oh, she was so stupid! How could she do that to him?

"Demeter?" The queen looked up to see Munkustrap looking in her direction. She realized that her noise made her presence known, and now felt even more ridiculous and stupid. There was only one thing she could do to keep her sanity and composure: _keep her mouth shut_! And for the love of all things catnip, _she could not run_! "Is something wrong? You look sick.." The silver tabby stayed where he was, looking down at her, the moon shining brightly behind him causing a shadow so she couldn't see his face.

Demeter opened her mouth to say something, but quickly closed it. Already, she almost broke her number one rule: don't say anything.

"I…wanted to talk to you," he said, his voice quavering slightly. (He seemed as nervous as she was at the time, but she knew he could hide it much better.) With very gentle motions, he climbed down from where he was and came to level ground with her. Realizing how much she missed being able to speak with someone on the same level as her was more comforting than she could have imagined, and she was momentarily at ease. But when she let down her guard, her tense body gave way to the overflowing emotions and caused her to begin shaking. "It's okay," his gentle voice said. "You're safe now."

Demeter let out an odd laugh, a mixture of relief of and quavering nerves. "I know I am," she said lightly. No! Don't say anymore. She could feel her emotions trying to come up. (Or was that vomit? She really didn't want to find out right here and now…)

Munkustrap stood where he was for a moment, staring at the cat. Now that the moonlight was working on lighting up his face, she could see how sad and tired he was. Demeter felt like such a fool. She was destroying him with everything that's happened to her, and wasn't doing a thing to make it better. Bombalurina was right…he needed her to come and talk to him.

"I didn't know where you were, Demeter," Munkustrap said quickly. The words seemed to be pouring out of his mouth. "If I knew where you were, I would have gone to find you, and gone to save you, and gone and killed Macavity, and I would never have left you there all alone. All I could think of was how scared you must have been, and I wanted to die knowing that I didn't save you before you were taken away. But I tried, I really did!

"Bombalurina was so scared, and every time I looked at her face, I felt I should be punished. I'm supposed to be the tribe protector, and I couldn't save someone I really care about. I would have given anything to have you back, and anything to know you were okay…anything to go through whatever they put you through, so you wouldn't have to go through it, _but I couldn't_. I couldn't protect you at all, and I was hardly any use to any of the cats here. I should have killed Macavity, but you told me not to. I should have strung him up on a string, tied him to the back of a car, and let him be dragged across England for what he did to you." Munkustrap stopped to breathe (though he seemed annoyed to have to take a moment to respire.) And while Demeter didn't want her feelings to come pouring out unchecked like they did with Munkustrap, he certainly did look a little relieved at his long confession. And she loved what he had said. She felt all the bitter feelings begin to wash away. And now she knew she had to do something about the look on his pained face, screaming, '_Please don't hate me!_'

"I…" she began, before thinking about what he said. Then she shook her head in amazement. "I never told you not to kill him!" The other cat looked taken aback. "I mean, I'm glad you didn't, Munku. I don't want you to be a killer, and I certainly don't think he should be…well…_dragged_ across London. Though that would be a little funny…" Demeter marveled at why he thought she told him not to kill him…(and at how her sense of humor had now considered something like that funny…)

"But…you said…" the silver tom stammered. "When we were fighting him, you said to stop! We all heard you."

Demeter shook her head, having no idea what he was talking about. Bombalurina _certainly_ would have mentioned that, if that were the case. But this was becoming an odd conversation…she had more important matters at paw. "I don't hate you," Demeter said, before closing her mouth tightly. But the look of relief on Munkustrap's face forced the rest of the words out of her mouth. "I don't know why I said it. I was just so scared, and I never meant it, but I felt so horrible when Bombalurina told me I did say it, because I never thought I would say something like that. But in my defense, I thought I was going to die, and with Macavity turning so violent…he wasn't always that violent…I don't know what came over him…

"But all I wanted was for you to come and rescue me, and you did, and I had hoped for it for so long, and prayed for so long, it didn't seem real anymore. And I felt so betrayed, and I didn't know why. But it wasn't your fault. It was never your fault. It's not you who I hate. I could never, Munkustrap! I've always loved you!"

Demeter covered her mouth quickly. _Where did that come from!_ And now she couldn't even pretend she meant it casually, as she tried so quickly to stop herself from saying anything else. (She knew she shouldn't have let herself say anymore! Now look what she's done!)

The look of shock on Munkustrap's face was all she would allow herself to see before she turned and raced away, a blur of black and gold fur. She heard the voices of Munkustrap and Bombalurina calling after her, but she had to go somewhere to clear her mind. _She couldn't take this right now!_ She still had to come to terms with everything that happened in the past few months before allowing herself to feel anything more that could possibly _destroy her._

Running past her den, she tried to find a place the other two would never look. She plunged into an old pipe and spun around to see if she was followed. Luckily, neither of the cats had followed her that far. (That was thanks to a combination of nerves and from daily outrunning all those horrible cats…and her own embarrassment carried her quite a ways more.)

She had to be alone for now. Her mind was too busy reeling. She knew she wouldn't get any sleep that night, let alone stop thinking of what she had done that night. While she would have loved to go back to Jennyanydots' and lie down and rest her aching body, (which had far overexerted itself over one confession), she knew she couldn't do that.

"_I've always loved you_," she repeated to herself, shaking her head. "Why did I say that?" But in thinking about it, of every time she'd smile just to see him, and every time she was glad to hear the sound of her name with his voice, she realized it was true. But she didn't want to hear his reply. She didn't want to hear whether he loved her of not. Because she just wasn't ready. Love always seemed so fragile…more so than she was at the moment. So she tried to let go of the feeling, of the uncertainty and vulnerability, and tried to forget it all, as she found herself crying for Everlasting Cat knows why.

All that talk about hate, and she ends it with love? If only she could be promised it wouldn't hurt her…

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_Another A/N: OKAY! I hope that was to your liking.  
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_ Oh! And I think it's funny. I didn't think the last chapter was that good, I thought it was a little weak, but all that reviewed seemed to love it. Did I torture the characters so much, you're glad something good happened? Lol! Anyways...Thank you all for your prayers for my little Rocio. She's doing fine right now, and hopefully will continue to get better.  
_


	28. A Little Bit of Clarity

**_Chapter 28 – A Little Bit of Clarity_**

The silver tabby sat in the middle of all the chaos. Cats were clamoring everywhere, racing about merrily, chattering about this or that. The Jellicle Ball was coming close, but Munkustrap hardly remembered what with all the recent events that took place. He didn't give a second thought to what the Jellicle Ball would be like without Demeter. But now that she was back and things were getting back to normal, everything started to become lively again. (Or maybe things were already lively, and he just didn't notice.)

"Munkustrap! Munkustrap! Look what I can do!" Etcetera did a little dance twirl Victoria showed her. "What do you think?" she asked, before she even finished. She then did a cute little high kick as her finale before bowing to the silver tom.

"Very nice, Etcetera," said the tabby as he smiled to the kitten. "Are you going to use that in the ball?" The kitten nodded vigorously, nuzzled Munkustrap, then raced off to practice more moves.

He craned his head, looking for a certain queen who he longed to speak with. But she wasn't seen anywhere. He hadn't seen more than a glimpse of her since _that_ night. His heart began racing as he thought about it, as a smile creeped on his face. She had told him what he never thought he'd hear from the shy queen. And now all he had to do was tell her that in return. Then maybe something could happen.

_If he could only find her and talk to her!_ She had become a very hard cat to corner by herself.

For one thing, Demeter had taken to hiding in Jennyanydots' little "recovery center". With the queen watching over them like a hawk, he could never say anything to the blushing queen, who was hardly saying anything to him. What's worse, he barely got to sit and talk to her, as Jennyanydots thought the gold queen was being far too agitated by his presence, and shooed him away. In his frustration, he found himself pacing outside of the car, but when the Gumby Cat caught on, she shooed him away from there, too. And when Demeter was finally deemed fit to walk around and join her fellow Jellicles, she became quite skilled in running away from him, or keeping close to a group of cats.

She learned to stay around a group of cats, as when she was with only one, Munkustrap could easily ask the other cat to leave them alone for a moment. Then when he'd tried to ease her into the conversation, she would try her best to act indifferent, not making eye contact, then excusing herself and racing off when she felt the conversation was getting dangerously close to whatever it was she was avoiding. (And she had become extraordinarily good at hiding…)

The only time he could ever really get close to her was when a loud noise or sudden movement scared her. She would hiss in whatever direction the scare came from and began to shake like a leaf. The first time it had happened, she curled into a ball, shivering, and stating, "They've come for me, they're going to kill me," in front of half the cats in the yard. That time, Munkustrap stood shocked and heartbroken, only able to react after Bombalurina raced over to Demeter, hugged her close and led her away to someplace safe.

There was an incident in which Bombalurina wasn't around, and the delicate queen dove behind Munkustrap, clutching onto his leg, and looking around nervously. Munkustrap looked around, mainly for show, but soon told her that nothing was there to harm her. As she took in a few deep breathes to calm herself down, the silver tabby bent down and put an arm around her, holding her close and comforting her while her sobs stopped and her breathing steadied. And for once, he was glad. Even though he had screwed up to begin with, she had faith in him to protect her, and he felt like she really did trust him.

But after she had regained her senses, and realized who was hugging her, (and what's more, that she was _alone_ with him,) she tried to pull away. But Munkustrap found himself holding onto her. "Wait," he said softly.

"I really have to go," she insisted, putting her paw on his chest to push him away, avoiding eye-contact with him. There was a slight struggle between the two, but when she let out a small terrified squeak, he loosened his grip, and she ran off. Now, he didn't quite know what to think about that. All he wanted to do was hold her and keep her safe, and instead he scared her and ran her off.

It must be exhausting being her…

"Munku!" The silver tabby was brought back to the present by a young tuxedoed tom, racing up to him and smiling. He had long healed from his injuries, and was quite happy to be practicing his dance steps for the Jellicle ball he would actually be able to participate in. (He was too young for the last one.) "Tell me what you think…"

The tabby stared blankly as Mistoffelees showed him a complicated dance step. He began with a bunch of spins, which dissolved gracefully into swirls, high-kicks, and complicated jumps the silver tabby could never dream of pulling off. Each movement looked very exhausting and intricate, but made to look easy at the same time, and absolutely breath-taking. "Well?" he asked afterwards, panting slightly.

"It was interesting," Munkustrap said half-heartedly. (He had other things on his mind…) Mistoffelees frowned and turned to leave. But Munkustrap suddenly had an idea, and grabbed the other tom by his shoulder. "Wait, Misto!"

"Yes?" he asked, a smug smile on his face.

"Listen, I think I have a job for you." The black and white frowned. But Munkustrap pointedly ignored this. He came in close and explained in a low voice, "Listen, you've known Demeter as long as I have…you grew up with her." The tom nodded verification. "She seemed to be doing okay after her…ordeal… Bomba was telling me that she is having nightmares, and sometimes runs off to find those two she brought back here. She won't let me talk to her, she won't tell Bombalurina anything, and Jennyanydots can't get anything out of her."

"Um…" Mistoffelees stammered, obviously confused. "I'm…sorry?"

"Look, you have a pretty good relationship with her, right?" The other tom seemed baffled by this allegation, and didn't seem to know how to answer. "You do, don't you?"

"Well," the tom thought back. "We don't really fight…We aren't really best friends, either. Maybe more friends than with the other cats…"

"Good," Munkustrap said. "I need you to talk to her."

"What?" Mistoffelees asked, baffled. "But you're more friends with her than anyone!"

"She won't talk to me," Munkustrap said again, sadly. "And I can't talk to those twins…I don't think they trust me when it comes to Demeter…Bombalurina is not too fond of them, either," he added as a afterthought. "You have a kind face…"

The other cat frowned at this. "It's the white mask, isn't it?"

"Yeah, I guess," Munkustrap said, waving off the statement with his paw. "I'd really appreciate it, Misto." Mistoffelees looked around at the other cats he must have thought to be far better than him for a one on one discussion with a queen, let alone Demeter. He only ever really talked to the _kittens_ half the time, even though the queen in question was his age. But Munkustrap hoped he would help. He had a good heart…

"I'll do it," he announced boldly, making the silver tom smile.

* * *

Mistoffelees and Demeter sat across from each other in his den. The queen was looking around, somewhat impressed, as she had never been in his den before. The tom was extremely nervous, as evident by his shaking paws. But he tried his best not to show his fear to the queen. Smiling awkwardly, he thought it best to start off casually. "Um…do you want a mouse or something?" He took a tin off a shelf and pulled out a live mouse.

"No, thank you," Demeter said absentmindedly. Taking a deep breath, he put the mouse back in the tin, where it then disappeared. Hopefully, she wouldn't change her mind later, because he wasn't sure he could conjure the mouse up again.

"So…You've been good lately?" he asked, before mentally kicking himself. Of course she wasn't okay...after all she had been through? Of course she wouldn't be okay!

"Yes," she said, pulling off a polite smile, though eyeing the other suspiciously. "And yourself?"

"Oh, I'm fine, I'm fine…" The tom pulled at his collar. Was it getting hot in there? Why was he so nervous, anyways? She was just a queen he never talked to, had just been through an entire ordeal, and was now expected to pour out her inner thoughts and have him somehow heal her. No pressure, none whatsoever…

"Misto?"

"WHAT!" The cat jumped up, fur on end, causing Demeter to fall backwards.

"Everlasting Cat!" she yelled. "You're so jumpy! What's the matter!"

"Nothing! Nothing…what's the matter with you?" he asked, trying to sound nonchalant.

Demeter sighed. "Did Bombalurina ask you to talk to me?" she asked forcefully, eying the frightened cat over.

"No! No, she certainly did not."

"Jenny?"

"No…"

Silence….then… "Munkustrap?"

There was an awkward silence in the room. Then the cat squeaked, "Yes…"

"I'm leaving." Demeter got up and was ready to leave, but Mistoffelees couldn't let her.

"No! Dem, please! Really, we're all worried about you. I mean, you're doing fine and everything, but you're so scared all the time."

"So are you!" she shot back.

"But that's just because I'm quiet, small, and black."

"What does being black have to do with it?"

The tom gaped, positively offended. "Do you know how many times I've nearly been stepped on in the middle of the day in a dark hallway?" he asked indignantly. "You would be nervous too!"

Demeter opened her mouth to say something, but was at a loss for words. She made a face, then admitted, "Well, that would make ANY cat nervous," before sitting back down. The two stared at each other. They then burst into laughter at the same time. "Why are we laughing?" she asked between gasps.

"Because we're weird," said the other, trying to calm his laughing fit. That made the other start laughing more, and for a while, all they could do was…well…laugh. Their nerves had gotten the better of them, it seemed. After all had calmed down, they looked to each other and smiled.

"Thank you, Misto. I needed a good laugh," the queen admitted. She looked at the other cat sadly, then looked away. Mistoffelees' mood changed quickly when he saw how the dark memories were affecting her. "I don't mean to be this way," she said.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he offered. Demeter looked sadly over to Mistoffelees, then back down to her paws.

"I…I don't want to keep hurting them," she confessed. "I can't sleep in the same den as my own sister because I wake up and see her fur, her _beautiful_ red fur, and become scared. She says I wake up screaming. I feel safe around the Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer. I feel like I'm not safe unless I'm with them, even though they had to leave me so many times when we were there… And I hate feeling the way I do. I know 'hate' has been the issue with me lately, but…I really…don't hate them. Any of them. Not even HIM."

"Him?" Mistoffelees asked. "You mean Munkustrap?"

"Why does everyone think I _hate him_?" Demeter yelled, shooting up from her sitting position.

"I'm sorry!" Mistoffelees said quickly. "I just…he's the only 'him' in your life, really. Except for when we were kittens…then there was…" The tom fell quiet when he realized who she had meant. "But…Demeter…after everything he did to you?"

"He didn't do it, really," Demeter said, looking down at her paws; her nails nearly healed, her paw growing fur again. "It was those cats he associates himself with. And in the end…he really did try to protect me."

"But," Mistoffelees said, confused. "What about when we found you?" Demeter looked off, then down at her paws. She didn't seem comfortable with what she wanted to say. She looked up pleadingly at Mistoffelees. "I promise whatever you tell me, I won't tell anyone."

Demeter took in a deep breath. "I think he's in love with me," she confessed. Mistoffelees couldn't avoid his jaw dropping. Demeter sighed in frustration at this action of his, and went to get up. "I knew this would sound weird! Forget I said anything."

"No, no! I'm sorry," he said, getting up and grabbing her left paw. "Please, tell me, why do you think this?" Almost certain he had ruined his chances, he was surprised when she slowly sat back down.

"He never really hurt me. Even Old Deuteronomy said he always seemed to enjoy my company. And when we were there, though he never talked to me, really…I think he was just glad to have me there. And he didn't want to lose me. I don't know if that's what love is, but…it seemed like he…" She went quiet. Mistoffelees waited for her to continue. He could see her brow creasing at whatever thoughts were plaguing her at the moment. Then, suddenly, she asked, "is that what love is like?"

"What?" Mistoffelees asked, but Demeter didn't want to ask again. Shaking his head, he tried to think back to when he first met his own love interest and found himself falling for her…and how gut-wrenching it was to see her with another tom. "It's not quite like that," he tried to explain. "You feel like you want to be with her all the time…like nothing will fill that void if you lose her. But very few cats take it to Macavity's level. You also have to _respect her wishes_. You don't try to _force_ her to be with you, and you certainly don't take her to places that would harm her. You never want harm to come to her!" Realizing how passionate he was getting, he stopped himself from saying anymore.

"I feel sorry for him," Demeter admitted, a sad smile coming across her face. "I have been trying so hard to understand why everything happened to me, and why he acted as he did when I ran away…but it ended like this. I'm scared. I don't want to fall in love if THAT is what becomes of it. I don't want to be the object of someone else's affection if all it means is that_ I'm_ the one to be hurt in the end. I don't want to become what Macavity became. I just pity him. And I hate myself for it all."

"No, Demeter," Mistoffelees said sadly. He didn't want to hear her say such things. "You can't hate yourself. You didn't do any of this. Not everyone is going to hurt you. Not everyone is Macavity. Look at…Alonzo!" It was the first tom to pop into his head. "He and Cassandra have been on and off again since time began! But they don't hate each other. And Tugger? Well…maybe he's not the best example…he tries to lure the queens to him…and Munkustrap!"

"Munku," she said fondly, smiling slightly at the thought. "He wouldn't hurt me," she said, her eyes glazing over as though she could see the tom right in front of her eyes. "He never has."

"You see!" Mistoffelees said proudly. "He wouldn't want you to hate yourself. And he certainly wouldn't want you pitying Macavity…but…you don't have to tell him that part." Demeter laughed lightly, then smiled sheepishly up to Mistoffelees. "Do you feel better now?" he asked.

"A little," she confessed. "I still don't know how to stop hurting the ones I love, though. I can't stop these feelings, no matter how hard I try."

"Um," at this, the tom was at a loss for words. What wise words of wisdom could he use to fill in this gap? "Uh…" words of _wisdom_! He prayed they would come to him. "Well… if there is one thing I learned from all the practicing I've been doing, it's this…Sometimes you want to rush something that has to happen naturally. When you work at it at a pace comfortable to you…and let it develop by itself, then you'll one day realize you've perfected it!" After this, Mistoffelees wanted to slap himself. What kind of explanation was that? It wasn't even what he meant to say…

"I see," Demeter said, baffling Mistoffelees. (_She understood that_?) "It's all part of the healing process, is that what you're saying? I can't wake up tomorrow and expect my past to be behind me?"

"Yes!" Mistoffelees said. Thank the Everlasting Cat she was a smart queen.

"Thank you, Misto," she said, smiling to him as she got up to leave. Mistoffelees got up and, being the gentleman he was, led the queen out of his little den. "Oh, by the way…what exactly is it you've been practicing?"

"Huh?" Mistoffelees asked, dumbfounded. Then he realized he used himself as an exampled and felt the need to mentally kick himself once again. "Oh, uh…You'll see…during the ball! I don't want to…uh…ruin the surprise!" Satisfied with that answer, Demeter nodded, and left the den. The tom then collapsed onto his little bed, thanking the Everlasting Cat that his meeting with the Queen went well. Then he felt proud… Munkustrap could depend on him from now on! And that was quite the thing for a little tom as himself to be proud of.

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Demeter felt good about herself as she walked back to her den. This was a good start! She had to begin thinking about what little things she had to do to heal rather than feeling bad about herself. And then, when she was ready, she could find herself being comfortable with the fact that she was in love with Munkustrap (petrifying though the thought may have been.) She would strive for that moment when she could finally allow herself to be vulnerable to whatever his feelings may be. And that would be a remarkable day.

The fur on the back of her neck went up suddenly and she felt the odd feeling of being watched. Quickly, she spun around, hissing at nothing in particular…she was dreaming, this couldn't be real…but this feeling was coming over her, and try as she might, she couldn't dumb it down. When she saw a flash of fur, she herself became a blur and found herself running to a familiar den.

She surprised the occupant inside and clutched onto him as tightly as she could. "He's here! It's Macavity, I know he's here!"

Trying to loosen her grip, Munkustrap took a few painful draws of breath before responding. "It's okay, Demeter. I'll go and check it out. But…can you please…let go? You're kind of hurting me." Demeter loosened her grip, but followed close to the tabby as he carefully walked out of his den and sniffed the air, looking around for any sign of trouble. "You okay?" he asked in a weary voice.

"I…I….I'm fine," she managed to say. "I'm okay."

"Good," the tabby said, stroking the queen on the head. Demeter looked up at the tired tabby, who had probably been stretching himself thin these past few weeks without rest. But he smiled for her, and seemed very welcome to the idea of her holding onto him. And though she knew she was frightened by what he may say, she couldn't bring herself to run this time. (Fear, for one thing, kept her at his side.) But she also liked the feeling of being close and protected…

"Demeter!" The two turned their heads, Demeter letting go of the tom and standing up straight as though she had been caught. Bombalurina popped her head out from around the corner. She looked very relieved to see her sister, ran up to her, and put a paw on her shoulder. "Oh, I'm glad you're alright. Skimbleshanks said he thought he saw Macavity."

"Really?" Munkustrap asked, obviously surprised. He then glanced at Demeter, before looking away quickly.

Demeter processed this for a moment, then frowned, pulling away from the tom and putting her paws on her hips. "What do you mean, '_really_?' You didn't believe me?"

"No, no, it's not that!" Munkustrap said quickly, putting his paws up in a defensive manner. "It's just…well…"

At this, Bombalurina laughed slightly. "Did you think she ran up to you just to press against you, Munku?" she asked in a flirty voice. But when Munkustrap seemed to look very embarrassed, the two queens looked at each other. Bombalurina had a knowing grin on her face. She then scooted close to Munkustrap and whispered, "Now would be a good time to lie!"

Demeter, however, was torn between feeling embarrassed and patronized. "I come to you because I'm scared, and you don't even believe me?" she asked, hiding her blushing face. "Bomba, let's go!"

"Wait, Demeter, I--" But Demeter waved her paws, not wanting to hear any more, took her sister and stormed off.

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_A/N: I had trouble with this chapter. I had a different ending, but it would be too redundant with the next chapter's ending. So it took me a while to fix that. Enjoy, and to all who celebrate it, Happy Thanksgiving! (Try Tofurkey...)_

_Satin: You loved it? Good! I was sooo nervous about that chapter. I didn't want to make it incredibly corny! You must hate me for this chapter, huh? ((pats you on the head)) there, there!  
Demo: I made you cry? Like, really? ((Wonders how she did that...))  
TigerLily: Thank you for wishing me goodluck, I needed it, as I sat in Physics class trying to think of how to rework the end...  
Enkeli-kitsu: Oh, I'm so glad you pointed that out! I was very proud of the whole pacing scenario. I thought it was good imagery, but no one else commented, and I was a little pouty about it, even though I'm sure the ending took away from their reaction to her pacing back and forth. _

_The end is coming up upon me fast...just a few more chapters to go! Then I can work on my other ideas...which one, which one?_


	29. Collision of Past and Present

_A/N: I kept redoing parts of this chapter. It was derived from a character profile I did to try and understand one of the other characters better, and it just seemed to go with what I had later on in the chapters. But with all the revisioning I did in this, it makes sense to ME but that's only because I know what I meant to say. If anything appears unclear, please e-mail me about it. And that was confusing...Lol, just read. Don't mind me.  
_

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**Chapter 29 – Collision of Past and Present**

Demeter watched the cat who was patrolling the front of the junkyard. After the Macavity scare, everyone seemed a lot more agitated. He hadn't tried anything, not even any of his normal pranks that he used to do in the junkyard, or any of his more malicious acts. Yet many of the cats were aware of his presence. What had he been doing there? What was he so intent on getting? Was he there for Demeter again? Was he there to torture her with the memories of what had happened to her? No matter how she felt towards his intentions, she could only understand so far. She couldn't let the others think he was going to let them be, and had to warn Munkustrap the following morning of the hatred the cat had to certain members of the tribe.

The only problem was in order to tell him, she would have to _talk_ to him. In order to talk to him, she would have to swallow her pride and ignore her embarrassment to do so. And that was what was so difficult. But while she had all these qualms, her feet had no problem walking themselves over to him. And though her mind screamed for her to stop, her heart seemed to be controlling all her impulses at the time. The feeling of her stomach churning as she saw his silver fur from afar had to be all her heart's doing. She felt like a kitten all over again, or one of Tugger's fan girls, (only for someone who was far more worthy of such attention.)

She watched him from a distance, remembering what it was like having him hold her in his arms. Oh, now, she couldn't get _too far_ into this... But at night, when she was thinking about what Bombalurina had said, she found herself smiling (after her embarrassment was gone.) So, maybe when no one was there to catch them, to poke fun at them, she could stop and admire the tom who looked particularly good patrolling the area. Her sweet guardian…

Not that he was technically _hers_. But there were moments when she couldn't stand to be near anyone, in which cats who begged her to participate in their dances in the Jellicle Ball would surround her, and the feeling of claustrophobia would overwhelm her, and she would have to run off. Other cats began bothering her more than she meant them to. But he was always the one exception…

"Munkustrap?" she asked. A chill went down her spine as the cat's intense look went over to her direction. He looked her over for signs of trouble, before relaxing. If the situation were different, Demeter would have thought his reaction endearing.

"Is something wrong?" he asked, his fur tufted out in alarm.

"No, no," she smiled. "I just…wanted you to know I was here. I needed the company," she said when she saw the small grin creeping on his face. Neither of them mentioned the embarrassing moment for them the night before. The fact that she had even come to him with a smile on her face was proof enough that she had forgiven him. And though he was a little antsy at first, looking at her like he used to look at Bombalurina, believing she would cuff him at any moment, he soon seemed to calm down, and greeted her with a welcoming outstretch of arms. She bowed her head lightly, but kept herself at a distance. He had a job to do, anyway.

To her surprise, Munkustrap found a nice comfy place and sat down, patting the spot next to him and letting her sit near him. She sat near enough to touch, but far enough away as not to imply any meaning behind it. There was a bit of awkwardness in that small gap between them, wanting to either push them apart or together; a decision that could only be absolved by one or the other moving…which neither did.

They sat silently, forgetting all peril for one moment. What had she come here for again? How easily she forgotten… Demeter cleared her throat. Munkustrap looked at her as though waiting for her to say something, but she said nothing. He then looked off into the distance. Things were quiet between them for a while. Demeter wanted to say something, _anything_, but she had nothing to say.

Munkustrap stiffened suddenly, getting up, his tail twitching back and forth in anger. Demeter got up as well, looking around, sniffing the air for the thing Munkustrap had surely sensed. Was is Macavity? Had he come back for her again? For one of the other cats? She found herself pressing close to Munkustrap. "It's not him," he said to her, a strange stiffness in his voice. He pointed to the entrance of the junkyard. Demeter looked and saw something grey making its way to the junkyard. After sniffing the air for a moment, she realized she didn't know what it was. Queen or Tom? Jellicle or Pollicle? Good or Bad?

She stood and watched the creature come up. Munkustrap, being the proper sentinel he was, stood at attention, eyeing the creature that was limping its way towards them. The creature looked up, and saw them staring at them, pausing momentarily, looking as though it were going to turn and run at any moment. Munkustrap looked over to Demeter. She nodded and ran into a pipe, watching from the opening. She could sense a few other cats nearby, who had apparently smelled the creature and come to see what had happened.

The creature then began walking faster over to the defender of the tribe. "Munkustrap?" the female voice asked. The tom in question jerked up in surprise. "Is that you? Well…it is you, isn't it? You look so grown up."

"May I…help you?" he asked, obviously caught off guard. He then shook his head, before squinting at the queen addressing him. "Do I know you?" he asked.

The queen smiled. "My son," she said. Demeter felt her jaw drop slightly. Was _that_ the cat she thought she was? If she were, Demeter certainly never heard the queen address Munkustrap in that fashion when they were kittens. (_That_ cat always wanted little queens, not little toms…) Demeter was sure that queen calling him that was a slap in the face now.

Munkustrap must have thought the same thing, as he stood very still, watching the creature with shock on his face. Demeter snuck out of her hiding place and sat at the opening, staring in disbelief. "What?" he asked, obviously offended. Demeter had never heard that tone of voice from Munkustrap. "Grizabella? Is that you?" His voice was laden with disgust. "What…what have you become?" He seemed to be waging a war inside of himself.

Demeter knew this because she was waging the same war within _herself_. Shocked, surprised, and feeling hurt, she looked over this shadow of a creature. So, it took her this long to come back to what she once had? That beautiful creature she loved so much yet was loved by so little? And now, she had returned, older than she ever should have been, with painted face and nails, torn coat, and a scent that masked her own. She had a dark air about her, and Demeter had only think back to some of the queens she saw in Macavity's lair to guess what had happened to her. That walk of defiled pride made Demeter sick to her stomach.

"I've changed, I know," the cat said softly. "I can't pretend that what had happened hasn't. I'm…I'm just so glad to see you." The queen limped up to him and reached a paw out to him, but the silver tom stepped back. Grizabella's fragile smile fell. "I know I've hurt you," she said.

"Me?" asked the silver cat. "What about Old Deuteronomy? How do you think he felt when his own daughter left? Or my brother? How do you think he felt when he had to make me understand that my own _mother_ was not coming home because she didn't want us anymore?" His voice was rising. Demeter looked around to see Alonzo had been one of the cats who came to aid Munkustrap. He looked on, baffled by the event, frozen in his spot. She also saw Mistoffelees, who looked very confused. (He probably didn't remember her.) And there stood Tugger, looking shocked and angry at the same time. Demeter scooted back a bit into her hiding place. This was not going to go well…

"That wasn't--" she tried to say, but was quickly cut off.

"What about Demeter?" he asked. The queen felt a knot tie in her stomach at having been mentioned. With the amount of anger in his voice at those words, Demeter could be spared her _own_ anger towards the queen. "She loved you like a mother!" Munkustrap tensed slightly as he looked back to where Demeter was hiding. She looked away, not wanting to look him in the eye. Now she could feel all the eyes staring at her as her spot was given away. And she could feel tears beginning to well up in her eyes. She didn't want to cry…though she had all the reason to.

"You have every right to hate me," said the queen, after a long moment's silence. Mistoffelees had come down to where Demeter was and looked in through the hole she had lodged herself into. He had a quizzical look on his face, and seemed to want an explanation, but the teary eyes that met his made him sit and simply keep her company. Demeter crawled out and sat next to her childhood friend, chocking back tears. "You have to understand, I was young. I made a mistake and long paid for it, and much more."

"We don't want to hear your sob story," said the voice of Tugger from on top of a pile of junk as he looked down at Grizabella, his face screwed up in anger. (Anger didn't suit him.) "We get it! We weren't good enough for you. And now you come back here when you're down on your luck."

"I was wrong to leave, I know," said Grizabella pleadingly as she tried to explain. "But listen to what I've been through. I'm better now. I realized what I lost!" Tugger fluffed his mane and walked down the pile in a glorified sweep that made Demeter admire him for once. He walked down to the queen and looked her over in disgust. "You're a stain on this tribe," he said to her. He then turned to Munkustrap, who seemed as shocked as the other toms were, and said, "Get her out of here." He walked off, and when he passed Demeter, her fur went on end at the aura he was giving off. An angry Tugger was not the thing she thought she would want to see again…

Demeter remembered how much she cried on Bombalurina's fur when Grizabella left. Again and again, she felt left behind. Deep in her heart, she knew it would never happen again, but in her mind, she kept thinking, 'I _hope_ it will never happen again.' Never wanting to leave her sister's side for fear that she might leave her, always thinking that if someone was mad at her, they would go away…all thoughts aided by the actions of this queen in front of her.

She realized Munkustrap was looking in her direction, and she quickly diverted her gaze and turned to Mistoffelees, who, in shock and instinct, let her hide her face in his black coat. "We don't want to see you here again," said the hurt voice of Munkustrap. "Get out of here. If you ever come back again, we will not be kind to you. You chose your path, now live it out like you were meant to. And leave us be."

Demeter peeked from the black fur to see Grizabella's crestfallen face look from each of the cats who were there at the moment. Her eyes stayed on Demeter's for one moment, almost begging her to tell Munkustrap to reconsider, as though she knew that he would listen to her. But Demeter slowly shook her head.

And with that, Grizabella chocked back her own tears, turned slowly, and straightening her curved back as much as she could. She took one last look around the junkyard before taking whatever dignity she had left away with her.

Mistoffelees was patting Demeter on the back, but while she knew he was trying to be comforting to her, he was very uncomfortable. And so was she. She didn't need to be mourning on some _other_ tom's shoulder. She lifted herself off the ground and walked over to Munkustrap, who looked more hurt than she felt. When she was by his side, she brushed up against him, nuzzling him lightly with her head, before looking up to him. Munkustrap sighed as he watched Grizabella's form disappear.

Demeter stayed by his side, head against Munkustrap's arm for a while, as they watched their past walk away, dragging up every memory they had. "Remember when we were happy?" Munkustrap asked in a sad voice. "We were kittens, and we were happy. We had no idea that so much would happen to us. Before she left…before…" He didn't go on.

"When did we grow up?" Demeter asked, sniffling and rubbing her eyes. "You know…we were happy…but she wasn't." Munkustrap looked down at the queen. She looked up and shrugged. "I don't want that to happen to anyone…trying to find happiness where you will only find sorrow. Not realizing what's right in front of you. Let's not do that…please."

Munkustrap nuzzled her and hugged her gently. Demeter sighed and tried to let the feeling of love wash over her. It was hard to try and let go of her insecurities and everything that had happened to her, for one moment of happiness. (It was too easily taken away.) Looking into the future, she was trying to learn something she would probably never understand, and was wasting her time with. When she thought she had gotten the answer, it disappeared from her mind. All she could do was try and take the moment for granted.

She leaned against Munkustrap, who had started leading her off to Everlasting Cat knows where. She wouldn't let herself cry. Not for her. "Munkustrap?" her quavering voice asked. He looked down at her. He looked ready to cry too, but he was probably in better control of his emotions than her erratic mind could be. The two stopped. "Where...are we going?"

"Heh…I don't know…away from there?" he said, shrugging, looking a little frazzled. "I was just walking."

"I was following you," Demeter said, a little baffled. She then laughed lightly, Munkustrap following suit. "The blind leading the blind…"

"I think we would have gotten somewhere eventually," Munkustrap said, trying to save face. He managed a smile.

"Where we were supposed to be," Demeter finished, nodding confirmation. She looked up at the sky, where the moon was beginning to rise, showing signs of nearing full. "Like right here. Do you think that--" She turned to the silver tom. But her thought process was cut off when he nuzzled her, and licked her cheek. "Uh…" was all she managed to say at the moment.

"You were saying?" the tom asked, grinning. But Demeter went silent, hardly able to recall ever saying anything to begin with. "I'm sorry I didn't take you seriously last night," he said softly. "I thought you were…uh…"

"Overreacting _again_?" she asked, poking him in the ribs. The tom looked away, a grin on his face. "Well…hopefully that won't happen again any time soon."

"Let's hope not," the tom agreed.

"Are you saying I overreact too much?" Demeter asked.

"No!" he said quickly. "That's not what I was…"

"Shh," Demeter said. "You get yourself in trouble when you talk." Munkustrap rolled his eyes lightly and bopped her on the nose. Demeter crinkled her nose, before an unshed sob turned into a hiccup, and she covered her mouth, embarrassed. The silver tom was trying to keep from laughing, but he was convulsing slightly with repressed giggles. Demeter hit him lightly with his paw.

"What was that?" he asked, looking at where he had been hit. "I think a moth just bumped into me." Demeter scoffed lightly and hit him harder this time, making Munkustrap grin. "Good thing you have a home to feed you. I don't know how you'd catch mice with those claws."

"Hey!" Demeter said, forgetting she had ever felt like crying and shoving the silver tom playfully. "When did you get so mean?" but he shrugged. Just as Demeter lifted her paw to really 'hurt' him, they heard the noise neither of them wanted to hear at the moment.

"Munkustrap!" called Jennyanydots. Munkustrap's ears flattened, and he sunk down slightly.

"One moment, please," Munkustrap said, before turning to leave. But Demeter grabbed his tail, and the cat looked back, baffled. "I have to go see what she wants."

"No you don't," Demeter said, frowning. "That's not a '_Munkustrap, you're the only one who can save me_,' call. Trust me, I know!"

"Why, you've called it a lot in your time?" Munkustrap asked playfully. The queen looked away, biting her lip. He then looked humbled, and put his paw to his mouth. "Never mind I said that." Again the older cat called, and Munkustrap looked over his shoulder. He seemed to debate whether or not to go, shuffling from one foot to the other. He then took her paw and raced off in the opposite direction. "Let Alonzo take care of it!"

"What are you doing?" Demeter asked, looking back, surprised the guardian had turned his back on his responsibilities. He was taking her past piles of junks, old thrown out furniture, decrepit appliances, and rusted old cars. But the tom smiled back at her, without answering, much to the gold queen's frustration. "Munku!" The tom laughed, and Demeter was put at ease, trusting his judgment.

When they had finally come to a stop, they were on top of a pile of junk Demeter was hardly familiar with. But from here, they could get a clear and uninterrupted view of the now risen moon. There were blankets, old clothes, and pillows thrown about. Munkustrap sat down and lay on his back. Demeter sat next to him, and looked down at the cat. "You've been here before?" she asked.

"Uh-huh," he said, smiling up at the queen. "I came here a lot before…but Jemima showed it to me. So it's not really _my_ discovery… She should be with Jenny right now, I hope," he said. Demeter grinned and lay down on her back next to the tom.

"Why did you bring me here?" Demeter asked, stopping to whack Munkustrap's tail out of the way, as it was swishing around and hitting her. "Munku ignoring his duties? It doesn't sound like you."

The tom was quiet for a moment. "I thought I should pay more attention to you," he said finally, before putting a paw over his eyes. "That came out wrong." Demeter grinned. "I meant that I…owe a lot of my time to you…that sounded worse, I think. I think I'll stop before I hurt myself."

The queen laid her head against the tom's chest, purring softly, looking up at the moon. She liked him this way: being playful instead of serious. She so rarely got to see it. Only a few times could she remember him being this way, and she entertained the idea that he was only like this when they were alone.

But this was a bit out of the ordinary for the two… Perhaps he had the same epiphany she did? No matter. She didn't want to think about it, about _her_, about what once was and how things were now. She didn't want to think about _anything_. She just listened to the tom as they lay there, talking about nothing important, ignoring the rest of the world for once. It was amazing how talking about mediocre things became so much more interesting when with someone she cared about. Someone she loved.

Then she heard his heart begin to beat faster. "Demeter?" The queen perched herself on her arm and looked over to the tom. He seemed nervous about what he was about to say. "I wanted you to know…that I love you, too." He put his paw over his eyes. "Always loved you, too, I meant to say." He then looked nervously back to the queen.

Silence. What was she supposed to say? She already said what she was supposed to say earlier (though it came out in a burst of unexpected emotion.) Does that mean she was supposed to say it again? _Was_ _she supposed to say it again?_ But it was so hard the first time! And this wasn't supposed to happen _now_! She was supposed to be completely healed, or _something_…able to take the complications of emotions that came with all this…

But she was taking it fine right now…in a sense. Truly, she felt like she was going to just burst out crying again, but not out of sadness. (He certainly wouldn't take it that way, though…right?) A gasp escaped her mouth as she became weak. She closed her eyes and tried to stop herself. She should have been tired of crying by now, but it seemed she had only just begun.

She laid her head against his chest, not able to look at his eyes anymore. "I know," she said. _What kind of answer was that!_ Of all the things she could have said… She grabbed onto the silver fur tightly in frustration. She buried her face into his fur, and just let the tears go. She couldn't hold them back any longer. She felt a paw stroking her head, and sighed with some relief, closing her eyes.

The small wonderment crossed her mind at how the past can help one's future at time. And none of it made sense. But none of it had to. As long as she felt _right_ in the present, nothing else mattered.

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_ A/N 2: The saga of the confusing Author continues... _

_Demo: Well, how can a chapter with Misto NOT be cute?  
Satin: LOL, I've been called alot of things, but Macavity like? When I'm half asleep, I'm probably more vulnerable than when I'm fully asleep. I'm scary half asleep, lol, if that counts! I thought you'd react that way. You're so funny!  
TigerLily: We mourn your not being with us for the end of the story. I shall miss your input! And I hope you get shortened grounding time, cause it's a long time until Christmas!_


	30. Anticipation

_A/N: Please excuse both the long legnth of this chapter and the lateness of my update Between school, writer's block, Christmas anticipation, a million appointments, and alot of revision, this chapter just kind of...well...came about late. Anyways, enjoy._**  
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Chapter 30 – Anticipation**

Demeter opened her eyes slowly as the sun was beating down on them. Closing them tightly again, she bowed her head lower into whatever it was that she was lying against. When she realized that 'whatever it was' was something that was breathing, her heart skipped a beat. Braving the rays of the morning sun, she looked up at the tom who had a bored look on his face. He looked down at her and smiled. "Oh, good, you're awake," he said.

"Uh…" she managed to say.

"I didn't want to wake you," he explained, stretching his free arm, as Demeter realized she was lying on his other arm.

"How long have you been awake?" Demeter asked sheepishly, moving herself so he could free his arm. The silver tabby lifted said arm, as his paw fell limply. Munkustrap made a face, shaking his arm, to show off his lifeless paw. Realizing she had cut off the circulation, she ducked her ears back, embarrassed. "Sorry!"

"It's okay," he said, though he didn't seem sure of it himself. "I've been awake ever since Alonzo kicked me in the head."

"What?" Demeter asked, suddenly awake.

"He wasn't too happy with having to be the one who helped Jennyanydots with some of the preparations for the ball. You were still asleep," he added, though Demeter had figured as much, and blushed to herself.

"What did he say?" she asked. Munkustrap was reveling in a cat-like stretch when she asked, and so decided to elaborate. "When he found us…together…here…away from everyone else…what did he say?"

Munkustrap grinned to the queen and got up, offering a paw for Demeter. "I think he said something along the lines of 'It's about time,'" he said as Demeter took his offered paw, lifting herself up. "Then he told me that he wasn't going to do any more work, and Jennyanydots was waiting for me when I was ready to go and help."

"Which brings us back to our original question…when did all this happen?"

Munkustrap looked over to the sun, which was fixing itself in a comfortable position, perfect for getting in the eyes of sleeping cats and commuting humans alike. "Oh…since the sun started to rise."

Demeter looked over to the suns current position, then back to the tom. "That was about two hours ago!" she exclaimed. "You've been awake for two hours with your arm asleep?"

"And a kicked in head," Munkustrap added, grinning to the queen, but she was hardly amused. "What?" he asked.

"Why?" she countered.

"Oh…" Munkustrap said, dumbfounded, as though it were just so obvious. (Which it was.) "I didn't want to wake you." Demeter looked at him with some surprise. "In fact," he said, grinning at her expression. "I promised to kick Alonzo later for nearly waking you. You looked so 'peaceful' sleeping."

He still had that grin on his face as he said that, and Demeter couldn't bear to look anymore. She felt like she was going to melt, for sure. "Oh," she squeaked, blushing.

"Demeter," said the tom's voice softly. She looked up to those green eyes timidly. He looked like he was about to ask her something, but shook his head as he decided against it. "I have to go help the others."

"Oh," Demeter said, nodding in agreement. "I have to go talk to Bombalurina, either way." The two stood still for a moment. Wasn't something supposed to happen now? They were both new to this whole _relationship_ thing. But for the moment, they were at a stand-off, waiting for the other to move. "Well…"

"Well…" Munkustrap made a jerky movement towards the queen, but she instinctively backed away, causing the tom to stop and stay where he was. Demeter then tried to open her arms, but fell short of the actual hug she was trying to pull off. Again they were at a standstill. "Maybe we should just--" he used his paw to indicate the direction he was going to leave.

"Good idea," she agreed, and headed off in the opposite direction, shaking her head and laughing at herself for her awkwardness.

* * *

Bombalurina was doing nothing to hide the wide smile on her face as she looked at her sister. Demeter was waiting for the other to say something, but nothing was being said. She just smiled, giggling every once in a while, but not saying anything. Demeter, in turn, shuffled nervously where she sat on the hood of the car they were sitting on, wondering what she was so funny. After a few minutes of this, Demeter finally threw her paws in the air. "What is it!"

"_Demi and Munku, sitting in a tree_," Bombalurina sang. Demeter sighed, covering her face. "I think it's adorable. You two were made for each other. I've known it all along!"

"Can you stop this?" Demeter said nervously. "I'm getting the feeling of déjà vu." Bombalurina didn't protest this time, as she thought back to the last time this had happened. The red queen scooted closer to her sister, putting an arm around her protectively and looking around nervously, before turning back to her sister, more serious this time. Demeter continued her explanation. "Either way, I don't know how to be around him most of the time. We were fine last night, but this morning, we were so…off."

"Off?" Bombalurina asked, but her sister simply responded with a shrug. "You weren't comfortable around each other?"

"No," Demeter sighed. "I had no idea what to do next. And neither did he! It was so weird. Awkward…embarrassing."

"You're thinking about it too hard," Bombalurina said, rolling her eyes. "You don't just sit there and think 'what should I do next.' Let it happen naturally. You'll know what to do. You'll react how you feel comfortable reacting. You don't have to jump into his arms and nuzzle his face while he's caught off guard…though that would be funny to see." Demeter nudged her sister, and Bombalurina laughed. "What brought you guys together to begin with?"

"Oh," Demeter said, looking down at her paws. "I went to tell him something...I FORGOT!" Demeter yelled suddenly. "After everything with Grizabella happened, I…"

"Grizabella?" Bombalurina asked.

"Oh…" She had forgotten to tell her sister the most important events of the night…(well importance is relevant here, but she was sure that _that_ was more important to the other members of the tribe than her sprouting relationship with a certain tom.) And so, the gold queen relived in a hushed voice what had happened the afternoon before.

"You're kidding," Bombalurina said, astonished. "She had the nerve to come back here? And she looked that bad, huh?" Bombalurina momentarily removed her arm from around her sister and sat back, a distant look in her eyes as she too was shoved back into the past.

"She made me really sad," Demeter admitted, as was evident by her still puffy eyes. "But not only because of the past. She's…not doing good, Bomba."

Bombalurina looked troubled by the news. "Don't have a bleeding heart for her, Dem," her sister warned. "She made everyone in this tribe feel terrible, especially Old Deuteronomy. Like we weren't good enough to _gaze_ upon the fur on her back, even though we all cared about her. Do you think Deuteronomy can take any more hurt from her? He's really showing his age, now." Bombalurina and Demeter both had a somber look on their face, Demeter leaning against her sister wearily at the thought. Soon, their leader may be leaving them. Hopefully not any time soon…but he worked his life doing his best for this tribe, and all his off-spring. "We can't let him know she came back," Bombalurina said finally. Demeter nodded in agreement, without protest. Perhaps they were underestimating his heart, but they believed it couldn't take another heartache.

Thoughts of the old cat reminded Demeter, once again, of a very important thing she needed to tell Munkustrap about. "I should probably go talk to Munku," she said, hopping off the car.

"Oh, you go do that," Bombalurina said, regaining her smile.

"And you should talk to Tugger," Demeter said, ignoring the other's implying smile. The red queen looked curiously to her sister for that statement. "I think he needs some company." Bombalurina gave her a look. "What?" Demeter asked. Thinking about what she had said, she rolled her eyes. "No! I mean to TALK to him! He was pretty upset yesterday."

"Why?" Bombalurina asked.

"Because..." Demeter took a moment to think her logic through before explaining. "You had to take care of me when I was younger because of our mother," Demeter reminded the other queen.

"Well…I'm sure he's over you hogging the attention when we were kits, Dem."

"No," Demeter said before realizing what the other had said. "_Hogging_ the attention!" she asked indignantly before shaking the thought from her head and getting back on point. "I _meant_ that Tugger is an older brother." The words wiped the smile from Bombalurina's face. "Munku was pretty young when Grizabella left. He didn't really understand either. So Tugger had to explain it to him, over and over again until Munkustrap understood that his mother wasn't coming back."

Demeter could see that Bombalurina was hurt by the memory as well. The red queen placed a paw over her heart, before redirecting her paw to her collar and fiddling nervously with the decorative spikes. Demeter pressed on. "And he had to watch his brother go through it all over again yesterday."

Bombalurina nodded quickly, indicating the gold queen to stop. "I get it," she said softly, her voice quavering slightly. Demeter waited for her sister to react. But the red queen surprised the other with her sudden jump from the car hood, embracing her sister. Bombalurina laughed lightly. "You're so serious!" she said, breaking away from Demeter and putting a paw on the gold queen's cheek. "But I'm glad we finally got to talk like normal. It's been so long."

Demeter slowly smiled to her sister. Satisfied, the red queen sighed, wiped her eyes as though she were trying to keep the tears inside, and then looked to her sister. "You go to one brother, I'll go to the other, and I'll meet you at the Jellicle Ball," she winked.

Bombalurina took on her best silky, sultry walk, and didn't bother to look back towards her sister. As she watched the red queen walk off, Demeter looked up at the sky. The Jellicle moon was a day away, and they would surely be maddened by the midnight dance tomorrow. Sure, she had lived through one Jellicle Ball, but she was so young, she really had no idea what was going on, nor did she care. She barely even remembered. There was dancing, singing, and something about sending someone off to the Heaviside Layer. She couldn't remember who, but surely it was no one she missed. But everyone was so excited about it, and it was hard not to share their excitement.

Demeter hurried her way over to Munkustrap's den. Surely, he would be there…if he had finished everything he had to do for the day.

* * *

Bombalurina found Tugger lounging by himself in a corner of the junkyard. The red queen rubbed up against him to get his attention before sitting next to him, fur to fur.

But Tugger seemed to be in a world of his own. A little shocked that he wasn't reacting to her flirty ways, Bombalurina tried to get him to talk. "Um…I heard about what happened yesterday."

"I don't want to talk about it," he said gruffly.

Bombalurina was a little put off, but she reminded herself that he was very upset about the whole incident, and dawned a smile. "I thought if you wanted to talk, you know…I'm here. I mean, you were there for me when I needed to talk to you, so I thought you could talk to me…if you wanted to." The queen thought the repetitive suggestion would hold over well for him, but he didn't even flinch. "Well…since I trusted you enough to talk to you, I was hoping that you could trust me enough to talk to me."

"I don't want to talk about it now," he said again, glancing over to the queen. "And if you don't mind, I want to be alone right now."

Feeling a little cheated, Bombalurina scoffed. "What is your problem?"

"You're bugging me, is what," said the tom, looking positively peeved. "You're sitting here and trying to get me to open up or something, and I'm just trying to get myself together for the Ball tomorrow night. Don't you consider that a little distracting?"

"Everlasting Cat, Tugger," Bombalurina said, standing up and putting her paws on her hips. "You're acting like an old grouch, treating me like your old mate whom you're tired of seeing."

"What makes you think I would have _you_ as my mate?" Tugger asked, before looking back to the spot he was looking to before.

Bombalurina stood and stared at the tom in front of her for a few moments, feeling deeply hurt. She took a deep breath, and looked off, suddenly quite serious. "I don't know…I just thought we…kind of worked." Tugger looked up at her in surprise, a look very few cats can get out of the collected tom. "Didn't you ever think of being mated at all?"

"No!" Tugger said quickly, getting up and looking around frantically for somewhere else to be.

"Why are you looking so nervous?" Bombalurina asked.

"I'm not nervous," the tom said, avoiding eye contact with the queen. "I have to go, is all." And with that, Tugger walked off, faster than he usually does. He left a hurt queen behind, who felt like she had done something wrong. And with the tears threatening to fall, she tried to not think of how stupid she felt or how she had been thinking of something that obviously wouldn't be. He was just a tom that loved her attention, and nothing.

With these thoughts, Bombalurina took in a few deep breaths, turned, and walked as proudly as she could away from the spot where her heart was broken.

* * *

"Demetah!" Mungojerrie practically knocked the queen over. Demeter looked at the tom with some confusion. He was panting, doubled over trying to catch his breath. "I was…wonderin'….if you…'ad….someone to…"

"Catch your breath, please," Demeter said, amused. Gratefully, the tom sank to the ground and caught his breath, falling back on the ground. The queen looked around, truing to be enough so he could ask whatever he wanted, so she could go talk to Munkustrap. After a few more moments, the tom finally got back up, with a satisfied sigh at having refilled his lungs with oxygen.

"I was wonderin' if ya wanted to go to the ball with me?" He gave his most charming smile, though it somehow came out lob-sided and awkward. Demeter smiled apologetically.

"I'm sorry…I was looking for Munkustrap just now and…"

"Oh," he moped, trudging over to a nearby pile of browning newspapers and sitting on them. "First Etce'tra said she was goin' with that Tuggah fellow, then that 'Lectra kit didn't really give me an answer...and that white queen who looks like a lil' Griddlebone is goin' with someone else! And that one kit didn't realize I was askin' 'er out. And now you're going with that silvah tigah cat thing!"

Trying not to delve into the fact that she was his fifth resort, Demeter tried a different approach. "Still don't have the names down, Mungojerrie?"

"Aw, it's not that bad," he assured her. "Sometimes, I jus' call '_Ey, you_!' an' someone turns around."

"Well, here," Demeter said, sitting next to her friend for a moment. "I'll help you with it. Say _Munku_."

"I 'aven't met 'im, yet!" Mungojerrie marveled.

"No, it's short for Munkustrap…" Demeter assured him. "Now say _Munku_."

"Mun…go…" said the orange tabby.

"Okay…let's try something simpler. How about just _Mun_."

"Mon?" Demeter stared at the young tom. How did he manage to get a syllable wrong! But she couldn't very well yell at him. He was honestly trying his best. Though he was barely younger than she was, she felt like she was working with a kitten… "Anyways, that silvah thing is goin' with ya, so I guess I'll…BOMBALURINA!"

Demeter was practically knocked over when Mungojerrie jumped up and ran over to the queen. But before he could even say anything, the red queen stormed past him, leaving the tom standing in bewilderment. Demeter got up and stood next to him. "How did you manage to remember her name and not even know Victoria's? I mean, you've lived on Victoria Grove." But the tom looked like he had switched his mission to finding any remaining queen at a suitable age to ask out, and walked off with a determined look in his eye.

So Demeter herself continued on her way to Munkustrap's den. When she finally arrived, she poked her head in and marveled. She had been in there recently, yes, but she didn't notice how he had changed things around. For one thing, his bed was now adorned with some very comfortable looking blankets that looked new, and she wondered for a moment if he stole it from his humans. And what was this? On a hook that was fixed inside his den from an old locker, there was a little bright pink bracelet that sparked a sweet memory in her head, making her laugh.

She walked up to the bracelet, and natural cat playfulness took hold of her, as she batted at the bracelet. Then she heard movement behind her. She moved to leave, but her claw was stuck to the bracelet on the hook! She pulled and pulled her paw frantically, sitting on the little makeshift bed, and pulling with all her might, trying to get lose.

"Munk, I need to talk to you!" Tugger let himself into the den, where he met eyes with Demeter, paw still stuck, who was trying her best to look nonchalant. The two stared at each other for a moment in silence. Then a playful smile spread across Tugger's face. "What…are you doing here? On Munk's bed, no less."

"Huh?" Demeter asked, before realizing what he was implying. "TUGGER! You have such a dirty mind!" She made to leave, but with her paw being stuck, she succeeded in spinning herself around, falling off the bed, thereby letting herself lose from the bracelet that kept her there. Tugger laughed as the queen quickly picked herself back up and stared angrily at the annoying tom. "What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I'm his brother," he defended, the smile wiping off his face slightly. "I can come and go in his den as I please. It's my right. Why would a queen like _yourself_ be in here?"

Demeter opened her mouth to speak, then stopped. What was less incriminating to say? Surely, no matter what she said, he would turn it into something it wasn't. "I just came to talk to him," she said, testing the waters.

"On his bed?" asked the tom. "At night, alone, with him not here? I tell you, Dem, you don't exactly have the best excuse in the world."

Demeter gave an exasperated sigh. "You are so annoying, Tugger!" She went to storm out of the den, but Tugger was standing in her way. She moved to the right, he blocked her way. She moved to the left, he blocked her way again. "What is it?" she asked.

"I don't want to be the reason Munk sleeps alone tonight," he said, smiling coyly. Obviously he just wanted to get on her nerves…which he did.

By this point, Demeter was blushing furiously. "That's not why I came here!"

"Well, I'm sure you don't oppose the idea," Tugger said matter-of-factly.

"I…what…you…just…UGH!" She put a paw over her face. "I am done talking to you," she said, before storming past the tom, who was laughing lightly. "I don't know how my sister stands you." Demeter saw Tugger's tail twitch, and thought she heard him growl lowly, but she didn't put much thought into the possibility that she might have insulted the Maine Coon.

As she was busy storming off, she rounded the corner and saw Munkustrap talking to Cassandra. She stopped dead as she saw Cassandra moving in very slow, deliberate motions that she recognized as Bombalurina's flirting methods. Now they were being used against the oblivious silver tom, who stood there and talked as though it was normal for a tail to swish so seductively.

Apparently the cat felt the daggers being stared into her back, as she turned and saw Demeter glaring at the two. Munkustrap, of course, continued on talking, not even noticing the stand off that was taking place right in front of him.

Cassandra, seemingly testing the limits, moved her tail to brush against the tom's leg. Munkustrap moved his leg back, but never gave up his adamant explanation of whatever it was he was talking about. Demeter was ready to tackle the queen, but then she thought she shouldn't resort to physical confrontation. At least, not with a queen…

Demeter walked slowly up to the two, the Abyssinian watching every step the gold and black queen took. Munkustrap's one way conversation started coming into ear shot. "But I told him not to do it. You know Alonzo, he'll do whatever he wants to." Demeter made her way just behind Munkustrap. "Aside from that, I was a little confused as to why he was running around with Jemima the other day." She ducked under his arm as it was adamantly swinging about in explanation. "She's just a kitten, he shouldn't be playing around with her. He's supposed to be a Jellicle guardian, protector, or _something_ to that effect." She leaned against him, and he put an arm around her, before he even realized she was there.

Looking down in surprise, Demeter could see him smile out of the side of her eye. She was hardly looking at him, though. She was too busy giving Cassandra a smug smile, as though to say, '_See? I'm his queen_.' Cassandra rolled her eyes. "What are you doing?" Munkustrap asked coyly with a curious look on his face, looking down to Demeter.

"Nothing," she said, laying her head against his chest, getting closer to him, stealing a smug glance over to Cassandra. The opposite queen put up her paws in resignation, and turned to leave. She did, however, pull off one last tail brush against Munkustrap's leg. (Not that he noticed, or ever would, as he can be immune to the flirtatious ways of queens at times. Perhaps he was born without a flirt-recognizing gene…)

Demeter would have knocked Cassandra over if Mungojerrie hadn't jumped out from behind a junk pile and scared the queen. Demeter smiled and was glad that she had Mungojerrie was a friend, even if he didn't realize he had done her a favor. "Cassava!"

"It's Cassandra," the queen said with some annoyance.

"Yeah, you!" he said with some desperation. "I was wonderin' if you'd come with me to the Ball!"

Demeter would have finished listening to their conversation if Munkustrap hadn't taken her attention away from him by hugging her and leaning against an old oven, causing the queen to fall against him for support when she was caught off balance. He smiled down to her. "That was unexpected," he said. "After this morning, I was a little worried," he admitted.

"Why?" she asked

"Well, you were a little uncomfortable," he explained.

"So were you," she protested. But before they could carry their conversation any farther, there was a bellowing voice that broke the quiet night air.

"FINE! I'LL JUS' GO WITH MY SISTAH TO THE BALL, THEN!" Mungojerrie threw his paws in the air, and Cassandra watched, baffled, as the tom stormed off, very annoyed. After a moment of confusion, the sleek queen composed herself and continued on her way.

"What is he so upset about?" Munkustrap asked to no one in particular.

"Uh…I don't know," Demeter said, shrugging. She then smiled to Munkustrap.

"Tomorrow is the Jellicle Ball," she informed the tom.

Munkustrap laughed lightly. "How can I forget? All the kittens are so anxious; they keep asking me what it's about. Everyone wants to pair off, but no one seems to want to ask the other, so everyone will just '_see what happens'_. Old Deuteronomy has me in charge of things until he comes, as he's sure he won't be here on time, Jenny keeps asking me if I will keep anything in order, Bustober wants to know if there will be food, otherwise, he doesn't think he will '_grace us with his presence'_, Gus wants me to be a pirate in a play he wants to do, I'm trying to get everyone together for the play we're going to do for Deuteronomy, and while everyone is begging me to see their dance number, some want me to dance with them, and I--"

"Who wants you to dance with them?" Demeter found herself demanding.

"Oh, you know, some of the toms," he said dismissively, wanting to get on with his complaints. "They want their dance numbers to be balanced. Some queens too. I already promised a dance with Victoria. She's very popular this year, though. I'm surprised she asked me to dance with her."

"And Cassandra?" Demeter asked, looking over to where the queen disappeared to.

"Complaining about Alonzo," he said, a little annoyed. "Something about his flirting with other queens, and saying 'I'll show him' and what not." Demeter nodded, realizing what had just happened between her and the queen she rarely associated with, but Munkustrap went on to his complaints. "I can't really participate, though."

"Why not?" Demeter asked, disappointed. Munkustrap smiled again, and Demeter realized how frazzled he looked. He tested hugging her tighter, and the queen let him, laying her head against his chest and listening to the deep resonating sound of his voice.

"I have to watch Old Deuteronomy. So much has happened lately…he seems so fragile. And with…" Munkustrap cut himself off and looked at Demeter, a little worried. Demeter gave him a questioning look, but Munkustrap shook his head, taking a paw and tapping her ear as though he had never seen a cat ear before. "I just want to make sure he will be okay."

"You were going to talk about Macavity," Demeter said. She felt his grip become tighter at the sound of the ginger cat's name, but he retained his composure. "I've been meaning to tell you… he…always…complained about Old Deuteronomy. Like he had a vendetta against him, or something…"

"Don't talk about _him_," Munkustrap said rather forcefully, to Demeter's shock.

"I…just thought you should know…for Old Deuteronomy's sake," she said, wondering if he heard what she had said. Munkustrap went quiet, looking off, seeming a little upset, loosening his grip on the queen. "Munkustrap?" The tom eventually brought his gaze back on the queen in his arms. Demeter had never seen him look that way before. Like he was holding back something that would be utterly terrifying if released. She didn't want to think of her silver tom being in any way like the ginger cat that terrified her so recently. "What is it?"

It took a while before the tom spoke again. But when he did, his voice was very even. "Why did you cry last night?" Demeter was a little shocked as he let go of her. "Do you really love me?"

Demeter was dumbfounded. It took a while of staring at the face that seemed unrecognizable to her at the moment to remind herself that that was Munkustrap. And he was afraid of being hurt by love, too. "I cried," she said cautiously, "because I have been scared for so long…and so empty…" her voice got a little more powerful as she spoke, slowly rising. "And so alone. And it wasn't until last night that I was so comfortable simply being with you, knowing you loved me, that I finally felt like things were okay. I will be okay. I'm safe. And you want to question that? That I love you? You think I said it just to make you happy? Why would I do that to myself? I spent so long trying not to tell you that, because it scared me!"

"So…" now Munkustrap looked confused. Good. She didn't like how he looked before. Like he was ready to break. But then again, everyone has their breaking points. She didn't want him to reach his. "You don't love Macavity," he said the last word with disgust.

Surely she didn't just hear that question. Fighting with the need to yell at him and severely hurt him for saying that, she put a paw to her head again. "Are you insane!" she asked finally. The two looked at each other for a moment, each breathing hard from the intensity their conversation had taken. "No!" she said finally.

The two were silenced, Demeter shaking like a leaf. She didn't know if she should leave, or stay, or yell some more. "I'm sorry," Munkustrap said, forcefully pulling Demeter into an embrace she was hardly ready to accept. "I've needed someone to tell me everything will be okay, too." Of course he did…So, why did it come as such a revelation to the young queen? There was only one thing she could think to do for him then: embrace the tom who was surprisingly as fragile as she was.

They stayed there until their hearts began beating at a normal pace again and their stomachs untightened, stuck in an embrace they were afraid to break. Slowly, their tense muscles loosened, and the awkwardness dissolved as they melted into the embrace they hoped to save them. And finally, Demeter purred against Munkustrap…her tom. No running away, no fear. "I must have really confused you," Demeter said in a light air.

"Everlasting Cat, yes, you did!" Munkustrap admitted, laughing lightly. The two broke away and looked up at each other, both with a gentle smile on their faces.

"Tugger was waiting for you in your den," Demeter said, deciding it was best they part ways then.

"My den, huh?" Munkustrap asked, looking off. "That can't be a good thing. He only comes when he needs to talk about something. I wonder how long he's been waiting?" Munkustrap smiled to Demeter and gently touched her cheek with his paw, his form of goodnight, before turning to head to his den. As Demeter watched him walk off, he turned around again abruptly, making her break her gaze so that he wouldn't know she was watching him. But, of course, he probably saw her. "How did you know he was in my den?"

"Uh," Demeter said, shrugging and shaking her head. "I don't know. And if Tugger says anything about it…I have no idea what he's talking about." Demeter would have smacked her forehead if Munkustrap weren't watching. But he slowly smiled then turned to leave.

The queen resigned herself for the night. All the anticipation for the following night had worn her out.

* * *

_A/N: Heh, I had a good thanksgiving, yes. You are all so funny. I always feel weird writing any romatic type stuff. It's not really my style, lol, but you guys seem to be indicating that I'm doing okay in that department. I like to lean towards humor, if you haven't noticed. Or drama, but who doesn't? heh. And I still don't think it's legal to 'shnrug' a Jellicle, lol. _

_This chapter gave me hell, so please review!  
_


	31. Midnight Dance

_A/N #1: I'm sure we all know how the Jellicle Ball goes...otherwise, you're reading this on a wing and a prayer trying to know which cats are which, heh...anways, I felt I should warn you that it's from one cats perspective, tying to other parts of the story, the last threads to be sewn to bring closure to certain aspects of Demeter's life. This is just one interpretation, yada yada yada. Now, please enjoy, and yell at me for it later! ((smile))  
_

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* * *

Chapter 31 –Maddened by the Midnight Dance**

After the flurry of anticipation the day before, one would think it would carry on into the next day. Oddly enough, the junkyard was very quiet. Everyone was resting, if not sleeping. Conversation was kept very little, as it seemed a spell had swept over the junkyard, causing all the cats to rest, saving themselves to be right for the Jellicle Ball.

If they weren't resting, they were washing themselves, making themselves look gorgeous. This night was a night they all wanted to look their best for. After all, someone was going to be sent to the Heaviside layer, and they wanted to look their best for when they send off whoever it was, or, Everlasting Cat forbid, one of the younger cats be chosen. But no, they were sure that old Gus was ready to leave them soon. And if not him, fate works in mysterious ways. Perhaps the Everlasting Cat will send to them the cat that desperately needed a new life.

This is what most of the cats pondered as they made their toilettes. Everything had to be perfect. For the first time in years, the tribe was full of young, rambunctious cats and kittens, and everyone had reason to celebrate. Love and excitement, beginnings and endings, joy and sadness…all of this was promised tonight, and the Jellicles wanted to be prepared for this.

Once Demeter had washed her fur, she never looked prettier. All her old wounds were gone, or covered by her fur, and her left paw was no longer a victim to her nervous lickings. Even her confidence was high. She felt like things were finally becoming the way it was meant to be. She thought this night to be more important to her than any other cats in the tribe. Of course, she didn't know this for certain, and she certainly wouldn't insult anyone by telling them this, but it gave her appearance a glow that wasn't there before.

The gold queen yawned and leaned against her sister, who's fur was practically glimmering from the bath their owner had given her that morning. (Bombalurina had covered herself in mud to make her owner wash her with some of that nice smelling papaya scented pet shampoo. What queens will do for beauty…) The red queen was already asleep, and Demeter soon followed, as she succumbed to the sleep spell of the day.

* * *

The sun had gone down, and it was that mystical time of twilight. Cats who were in their homes emerged from the safety of the four walls and trotted their way through the night, not stopping for anything. The Jellicle Moon had appeared overhead, and those who were sleeping throughout the day were set free of the spell that was cast on them. They woke up, stretched, and waited for their cue from their second-in-command to come out to the night, and enjoy the magic that the Jellicle Moon brought. 

Demeter could now appreciate the magic of the night the way she never would have as a kitten, when the enchantment of the festivities held nothing remarkable to her. After all the mediocrity and the extraordinary these cats lived through each day, at least one day they could all feel like the gods they were once revered as. Magic that so rarely filled their lives would come to play tonight.

Demeter walked to where the old tire was, her beautiful sister following. To the human eye, there was nothing majestic about it. But to the Jellicles, this tire on this night was very important to them.

Everyone seemed to be hiding, afraid to be the first ones to step out. And Demeter was certainly not going to be the first to go out and make a fool of herself. But all the other cats seemed to think the same as they peered through the junk and over ledges, their moonlight eyes the only thing giving their position away.

No one spoke…it was too quiet to say any words…not until the first note was sung, would any of them want to say anything. So they all waited patiently, knowing the others were out there. They were all waiting for some odd magic to start up and life to spring back up in the junkyard.

Demeter sniffed the air. She thought she smelled something…familiar. What it was, she wasn't sure. If it were Macavity, she would feel the terror go down her spine. But no…this was different. It was definitely familiar.

Lured by the scent, and forgetting where she was at the moment, Demeter found herself wandering out of her hiding place. Certainly, she didn't smell what she thought she smelled…the scent of a cat who had no right to be there that night. _She_ wasn't welcome anymore.

Demeter became aware of her surroundings again when the light of a passing car woke her senses. She hissed instinctively, before realizing that she had stepped right out to the center of the stage for tonight's events, and sheepishly ran to an old pipe and hid herself, embarrassed.

She was the catalyst the others needed. Others now came out to inspect the area, seemingly having smelled the familiar scent, as well. Some even sniffed the air. Demeter, feeling safer that the others were now out, came out again. But the scent was gone, and the curiosity of the other cats died down. That's when Munkustrap, who had also come out to look for himself, was given the silent cue from what ever powers worked their enchantment that night, and he began the first notes. The others emerged slowly…and the celebration begun! The celebration of being a Jellicle…what else was there to be more proud of?

For the first time in a long time, Demeter was happy dancing and singing along with her friends and family of the joys of being a cat: the kittens of the Everlasting Cat! She even joined with her sister when they honored Jennyanydots. (That cat did do a lot for her, after all.)

But she was hardly amused by the Rum Tum Tugger's interruption of the festivities, and stealing the limelight. And she wasn't at all impressed when Tugger decided to _bestow_ some attention on her. (She hissed at him in annoyance.) And it was the last straw, when the maned tom had the audacity to drop her sister! What was wrong with him! She thought he could at least appreciate the friendship he had with Bombalurina enough not to humiliate her in front of all the other cats. Angry with the way Tugger was treating her sister, Demeter left the scene and made her way to a quieter place, close enough to hear the festivities.

The anxious queen wrung her paws. Crowds still made her a little nervous, and her emotions were already getting erratic thanks to one Rum Tum Tugger. However he could possible be related to Munkustrap, she'd never know! _Her_ Munkustrap was kind, sweet, gentle…and only stuck to one queen. Demeter's throat went dry. _Hopefully_, he stuck to one queen.

The gold cat saw something off in the distance. Thinking it was Old Deuteronomy, Demeter brightened. He arrived earlier than they thought he would! But when her eyes adjusted again to the moonlights rather than the lights of the ball, Demeter ears fell back. "Uh-oh," she said softly to herself, before rushing back to the crowd of cats.

Demeter walked in slowly, eyes scanning over the cats to find the silver tom. But when she finally caught sight of him, as he was shaking his head in disapproval at the tom who was waving his tail to get too much attention, Demeter felt a pull at her own tail, and was hauled into a sitting position next to her sister. "Would you look at him?" she sulked. "That lousy jerk. I didn't do anything to him. It's not my fault he can't commit, but to treat me like I'm less than _nothing_?"

"Um," Demeter tried to interrupt, but when everything fell silent, she knew it was too late to warn the second in command. Her sister had gotten up, both intrigued and put on edge by the sudden silence. Tugger was pointing at something, making all the cats stand in awe, looking in the direction of whatever it was that could change the vivacious tom's mood so quickly.

That's when she came out.

Mistoffelees, who was probably the most curious about her after seeing what had happened between her and the others, was the first to rush up to her and investigate. But Munkustrap quickly pulled him out of the way. The older cats kept the kittens away, like that old, ragged queen was the plague. Some gasped at seeing who it was, recognizing her finally. Some shook their heads, not knowing what to make of her. Bombalurina stared in disgust. "So that's what she became?" she asked, making a revolted face at the once beautiful queen. She then pawed at her own red fur, as though she were looking into a mirror of the future. "It's…horrific."

Seeing how the others were treating her, especially the fact that not-so-little-anymore Pouncival had scratched her, made Demeter shake her head. For a moment, she saw herself in that position. (Now, she could hardly compare the Jellicle Tribe to Macavity's tribe…but the feeling of being so unwanted, or that they'd do anything to destroy her, swept over her.) And though she knew better, Demeter thought she should be the kind paw she herself had wanted once before.

Sweeping past Munkustrap, knowing full well the tom would rather pull her away, she held out a paw in an attempt to greet the queen, hopefully making her feel wanted by the tribe. And for a moment, she saw a glimmer of hope from the old queen. But all the cats were watching her, and Munkustrap was right behind her. So she pulled away, giving Grizabella a sorrowful look that said, 'I'm sorry', though she didn't know why. The old glamour cat should have been begging _them_ for forgiveness.

Demeter could hear the whispers of the other cats. Of what Grizabella had become. Of how detestable she looked. Of how they didn't even want to touch her, not knowing where she had been. Demeter had to do _something_, she felt. "You have to understand," she tried to explain, telling the others of what Grizabella's life must have been like after she had left the tribe. When she was done, all were agreed. "Who'd have ever supposed that THAT was Grizabella, the glamour cat?"

Well…that was hardly what she meant to accomplish. Especially with the harsh way Bombalurina spoke the queen's name…

As the others wished her away by their sheer, combined will not to touch the queen, Demeter watched her disappear into the night, longing to go after her. But what could she do? She felt it was out of her paws. She had already tried, but look where that got them? Perhaps, now it was up to the old queen herself. Because Demeter needed convincing as well.

"Forget about her," Jennyanydots chirped. "Look who's here!" Demeter turned to see that it was Bustober Jones, who had decided to join them after all. All the other cats had regained their lost cheeriness. She looked at them, seeing that Munkustrap and Bombalurina had quickly bounced back from their shock. While everyone gathered around to greet the fat cat, Demeter snuck off to where Grizabella had gone.

She followed the queen's scent carefully. But when she had lost it, Demeter shook her head. "For a cat with a limp," said a voice, "She sure does walk fast when she wants to, doesn't she?" Demeter looked up to see Tugger was lounging in an old chair.

"You're not with the others?" Demeter asked, forgetting her anger with the tom for the moment.

"Yeah," Tugger said sarcastically. "Like I want to celebrate twenty five pounds of Felinity that thinks he's better than me." He looked off into the direction the cat walked off to. "I didn't think she would come this way," he explained.

"You didn't say anything to her, did you?" Demeter found herself demanding. "I think she had _enough_ from the rest of the tribe."

"I wouldn't want to talk to her," the cat countered. "I just watched her as she picked up her pace and hobbled somewhere else. She didn't know I was here," he said bitterly. "She wouldn't recognize her 'son's' presence, anyway." Demeter looked over to where the cat disappeared to. "What are you doing, anyway?" he demanded.

"What?" Demeter asked, looking up.

"Running after her?" he reminded her. "Let her rot." Seeing how upset he was by her actions, Demeter didn't want to become the reason for an angry Tugger. So without another word, she left the tom to his thoughts.

As she walked back to the tribe, she heard a loud crash, which made her jump, and she raced out to where the other cats had been. "Macavity!" she yelled before she could stop herself, and all the cats scattered.

In the distance, she could hear Munkustrap's voice yelling after her, "Wait! It might not be Macavity!" But that was hardly any consolation as all the cats had their fun ruined by the scare.

Demeter panted and was shaking when Bombalurina and Mistoffelees found her. "Are you okay?" the tuxedoed tom asked as her sister drew her into a protective hug. Demeter nodded, trying her hardest to pretend it didn't bother her, but her nerves were on end. She wasn't quite as healed as she thought she was…

"I'm fine!" she assured them, pushing her sister off, and patting down her raised fur.

Then Victoria came over with Jemima, tapping Mistoffelees on the shoulder. "My favorite toy is missing," Victoria said to him frantically, as she had apparently chosen to hide in her den.

"And so is my crystal kitty bowl I found," Jemima pouted. All eyes went to her. "It was in the junk," she explained, pointing to some random direction. When the cats kept staring, Jemima pouted. "Well, do you think a kitten can't have nice things?"

Other cats found each other, many having heard the complaints of others and realizing that their items had gone missing as well. That's when Alonzo found the congregation of cats. "What's going on here?" he asked, an eyebrow raised in suspicion.

"He's here! He's here!" Etcetera cried, pouting at having lost her favorite blanket, and sniffling sadly. "Macavity stole all our things!"

Alonzo rolled his eyes. "No he didn't. We looked all around! He's no where around here." Demeter sighed with relief, along with a few sighs of relief from the older cats.

Just then, Munkustrap came over a pile of junk and cleared his throat to get their attention. All eyes went up to the silver tom, who looked slightly annoyed. "Come back here. I want to show you all something." All the cats got up, Bombalurina staying close to Demeter, as he took the cats to where their celebration had been brought to a halt. Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer were in the center, having their own celebration. And surely, the satchels on the ground most likely contained the missing objects. All the cats shook their heads at the gleeful, giggling brother and sister who were happy to get their paws in the thievery game again.

As though on cue, all the cats turned and looked at Demeter, the reason the two cats were in the tribe to begin with. Feeling her face flush, Demeter shrugged. "It's what they do!" she said in her own defense. Munkustrap sighed, shaking his head, before nodding to Alonzo, sneaking up behind the two. Alonzo grabbed one bag, Munkustrap the other.

Then the cats rounded on the two, who suddenly realized they were not alone anymore. With a small squeak from Rumpleteazer, Jennyanydots started scolding the two. "Stealing from your own tribe mates. I don't think I've ever seen anything like it! Back in my day, we respected our elders…" and so on, as everyone instinctively tuned out the Gumby Cat.

The twins turned to run, but Demeter and Mistoffelees blocked their way. "Ah, come on," Mungojerrie muttered, as they turned to run in the opposite direction. Munkustrap and Alonzo held up the evidence against the twins. The siblings then jumped up on the old car, and turned around. They tried to catch the satchels that the two protectors threw at them, but failed miserably. The two pouted, and for a moment, the only sound that could be heard was the horrified squeak of Jemima, who must have been worried about her crystal kitty bowl. "What?" Mungojerrie asked as the cats in the tribe glared at him. "You can't take a joke?" Rumpleteazer bit her lip as not to laugh.

There was a short silence as all the cats glared at them. Then Munkustrap turned to the others and smiled a mischievously. "Now, let's teach them a lesson!" All the cats grinned as the twins looked around nervously and cowered. For a moment, Demeter would have _considered_ worrying about her two pleading friends, were it not for Mistoffelees, of all cats, saving them.

"Old Deuteronomy?" asked the tuxedoed cat. Munkustrap spun around, looking to the young tom, and then to the mystical twins.

"I believe it is Old Deuteronomy," they confirmed. With that, the two cat burglars sighed with relief as everyone was too busy greeting the old cat once Mistoffelees had gently ushered him in. Even the Rum Tum Tugger came out of his stupor to greet his father, and to everyone's surprise, paid his respects by bowing to him. Old Deuteronomy was positively glowing. Demeter smiled. Though he was much older than he once was, the old tom never looked prouder. And all the cats were proud to have their Jellicle leader there with them.

For a while, everything went, in a sense, without a hitch. Though, Demeter was sure Munkustrap didn't consider it as such, when all the cats in unison didn't understand that they were trying to impress Old Deuteronomy with a play, and not show off their horrible acting skills. Demeter thought it was very ironic that Etcetera and Pouncival were meant to be the first peke and pollicle, but they switched with a very proud Rumpleteazer and Mungojerrie, just to annoy the silver tom, their director. (And they didn't quite know how to bark on cue…)

After she ruffled her fur in her peke costume, Demeter thought she smelt something. But the thought left her head when Old Deuteronomy began talking to them, and they all gave him their undivided attention. He was cut off, however, by a loud noise. "Macavity!" Demeter said instinctively, but she was sure this time she was right. All the cats still trusted her judgment, as they scattered at this new scare.

This time, Demeter stayed near her sister, cowering at her feet, trying to calm herself. (She really had to take stress management lessons or _something_. Maybe she could be given a sedative...) Really, she hated being known as the "nervous one". Maybe she could make the others describe her as something different, like 'alert', or 'watchful'… All the while she reminded herself that she was surrounded by friends and family, and that no harm could come to her.

"Come on," Bombalurina said, a little shaken herself. "They're calling us out to the ball. Munku and Alonzo are out there, so you know everything's okay!" With this reassurance, Demeter tried to put the thoughts from her mind as she was greeted by singing, dancing, and the Jellicle Moon overhead.

Demeter had to admit it was funny to watch her sister interrupt the toms' passionate dancing with her sexy dance, and even joined her for a while. But once all the fun and games were over, came a part of the ball Demeter didn't realize was coming…the mating dance.

For a while, Demeter envied how Victoria and Plato were dancing so beautifully. But before she could put much more thought into that, she felt someone watching her, and turned to see Munkustrap sitting beside his grandfather. The silver tom was grinning, doing nothing to hide his intent look. She couldn't place what that grin meant, exactly. _What was he thinking about_? Returning a grin, she forced herself to look away, as the other cats were now congregating, performing the last bits of the dance. She, of course, performed it alone, not really bothering to see who paired up with who. She could almost feel Munkustrap eyes staring at her, and wished to the Everlasting Cat he would stop. It was making her nervous… in a _different_ way.

She could almost feel his presence beside her. A gentle touch. A warm embrace. Bringing her close to him, as he nuzzled her sweetly. Demeter felt embarrassed for these thoughts. Though no one could ever know what they were, she felt like she might as well have been yelling it out for everyone to hear. Ridiculously, she guarded her thoughts with all her might, as she lay there among the heap of cats, who were succumbing to the gentleness of the night.

She shot up along with everyone else. Grizabella was there again, though no one knew where. (_Everlasting Cat, that cat was persistent_!) She wanted so much to be part of the group again, but Alonzo had quickly chased her away as the other cats decided to ignore the interruption and begin to dance with a new vigor and pride that they didn't realize they had in them. And after they were done with their insane dancing, as the Jellicle Moon had finished driving them to dance so heatedly, they all circled around their leader, each panting for breath and very tired, and paid him the homage he deserved, as he was too old to dance with them all.

"She's back," someone said, and all the cats turned around to see the fallen beauty, hissing at her, racing past her, drawing kittens away from her. She had picked a bad time to return, as their emotions were no longer held back due to their exhaustion. And that Pouncival, bumping into her as though she didn't deserve their respect… Seeing a shadow of her past, Demeter raced up to help the old queen. But the vision of herself in place of the old cat shifted back to reality, and she saw the face aged before it's time. Bombalurina put a paw on Demeter's shoulder as she stood there, frozen, unable to even think of what to do. "Get her out of here," Munkustrap whispered to the red queen, as she was swept away like a kitten.

Some of the kittens sat and watched in hiding as the old queen made a spectacle of herself, reliving her old days. "You should turn your face from her," Bombalurina called up to them, and the kittens, not knowing what to do, stayed and listened to the old cat's plea. The red queen sighed, "And you should, too," Bombalurina said to her sister.

"What were you going to do?" she asked, irritated at her younger sister. Demeter tensed up. Her actions were getting her in trouble... "Were you going to try and accept her back in the tribe? Do you really think she deserves it? After what she did to us? All of us? Do you think you have any right?"

"I just…" Demeter began, shaking her head. She couldn't look at her sister. If Bombalurina was as mad as Tugger had been at her, she didn't want to upset her sister more. She had to try to make her understand. "I thought…if I could just reach out and be the kind touch she feels…But I couldn't do it. What she has done is nothing to what she has become. There is so much I want to do, and so much I won't because I'm too _scared_ or too _angry_ to do it. I just wanted to be the one to reach out to her…to be that gentle touch that would tell her that everything will finally be okay. But I couldn't do it!" She looked up to her sister. Demeter knew from experience the need to feel one familiar, gentle touch, and never getting it. And now she felt dirty…she had become that which she hated. "When did I become like this?"

There was silence. Demeter stared to her sister, hearing the footfalls of cats as they shuffled about the junk piles, waiting for their moment to shine again. She then looked down to her paws once more. Then Bombalurina spoke. "We have a lot more history with her than anyone else," she reasoned, her voice gentler this time. "We have reason to utterly _despise_ her. For you to even _try_ to reach out to her, after everything that's happened to you…makes you better than me any day." Demeter looked up, ready to protest what the queen had said, but the red queen shook her head, tried to smile, and walked off to see if the glamour cat had rid herself of their presence.

* * *

_A/N #2: I felt very religious writing some parts of this chapter...Maybe it's just me._

_Satin: I knew that no matter what, you would like that chapter. You love the Munku/Dem fluff. I should dedicate all Munku/Dem fluff to you!  
Demo: Cassandra can just be scary to people in general. I always thought she was kinda flirty to Munku, but he never noticed. And to you, my 100th reviewer, I thank thee!  
Chimalmaht: To read this slowly but surely to here, that's over 200 pages on **Word (**at the moment.) Congrats, you read a novel! And Demeter reluctantly accepts your apology for 'shnurging' Munku. ((I still am not sure it's legal, lol))  
TigerLily: you returned! I was surprised! Pleasantly so! I'm sorry I somehow confused you, though! How did I manage that? I mean, not that I don't confuse people on a regular basis, but... I just confused myself. Anyways...  
_

_And thanks to Vicky and Sarabi for reviewing! So many reviews this time! Maybe I should be late in my updates more, so that more people will have caught up and review! ((wink)) _


	32. Time Flow Away

_A/N: HAHAHAHAHA! Finals are over! I'm free until next semester! ((Does a little dance)) Or maybe I should leave the dancing to the Jellicles... Little DVD fact if you never noticed. Grizabella is there during the moments of happiness, when they sing Memory, on the car hood. And if you did notice, good eye! She blends in with the background -- . Now, without further ado...  
_

* * *

**Chapter 32 – When Will Time Flow Away**

Slowly, the chaos of the former Jellicle trying to regain acceptance fell to a gentle stir. She had left, and the other cats had come out to fill the void. But hardly the silence. As cats lazed about, finding a comfortable place to sit or lay down, Demeter was no exception, as she braved facing the cats she thought to be judging her for her actions. She sat aside in one of the corners, feeling her face flush as her fur puffed out. Though it was probably only in her mind, she could feel all the eyes staring at her. She only looked up to glance at Old Deuteronomy, who looked down upon his tribe, and seemed somber yet stern at the same time. There was something he needed to say to his tribe as a whole, and now that they were all gathered, he made it his mission to scold them.

It was an odd way to lecture the cats, who all felt like kittens at the moment, by explaining to them it was time they understood the pain of another, and only in understanding, could they find happiness…or something like that. Most of the cats starting zoning out, as did Demeter. She didn't mean to be such a kitten while the revered cat was talking, but she had her own understanding to come to terms with, let alone understanding what he was saying. Everyone was upset to begin with that Old Deuteronomy had to find out not only that his daughter was back, but now all the tribe members hated her.

Their individual thought processes were broken by the deep voice of the old tribe leader, as he said, "Tell them, child." Demeter glanced over to see little Jemima had stood up, her eyes as bright as her soul was pure. She had never had any real hardships in life, but had she any, she might not have understood Old Deuteronomy.

She was like a little sponge, taking up all the hurt and pain of the other cats, but it didn't affect her in the negative. She remained as innocent as she possibly could be. "Moonlight, turn your face to the moonlight! Let your memory lead you; Open up, enter in. If you find there the meaning of what happiness is, then a new life will begin."

Demeter found herself repeating the song the kitten had sung, along with the rest of the cats. A new life? That was something _she_ felt she could use at times. But didn't everyone want to start over at times? Is this what Grizabella thought of her own life? Is this what the glamour cat finally learned? An odd understanding filled the area, as the cats finished singing what the youngest kitten innately understood.

They all sat there, _almost_ grasping the lesson, yet it was too far for them to reach at the moment. In that state of slight confusion, Demeter felt the presence of the cat who was ostracized by the tribe. And though she was not sure why, she found herself rising up to her feet. She didn't want to scare her away, but in that fleeting thought, the scent of the frightened, old queen disappeared, as well as the knowledge they had almost achieved.

Demeter realized all the other cats had jumped up as she had, and all had the same look on their face: serious, contemplating, and not wanting to lose what they almost gained. Maybe they all felt Grizabella there, watching them trying to understand her, out of sight, away from them all. But they soon returned to normal, losing the enchantment of the little kitten's song.

Because things were so somber, all the cats stayed to listen to Gus' story, as Demeter sat on top of the old pipe, watching sadly as they celebrated his life. Maybe he would go to the Heaviside Layer that night? He was going blind, she knew that. But he still loved to tell his stories, and life appeared in his eyes again when the kittens would sit and listen to them intently. She would miss him if he left. He was a subtle presence in the tribe, but very important all the same.

Demeter thought it best to stay out of sight while some of the toms played a part in Gus' play, and tried not to be too upset that the lead queen of the play, ironically named Griddlebone, tried to take center stage. (Of course, it was Jellylorum in costume, but it didn't stop Demeter from wanting to smack her.) At one point, Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer came up to Demeter, just so the latter could comment, "She plays 'er too nice," before sticking her tongue out at the fake Griddlebone. "And where do they ge' off callin' 'er a _lady_?"

All three cringed at the blood curdling screech Jellylorum aptly portrayed, but were quite satisfied when 'Griddlebone' was dragged away. Rumpleteazer smiled roguishly. Demeter clapped her paws, soon joined by the other two. (Of course, when asked, they claimed it was because of Jellylorum's flawless performance…)

For the while that the cats sang of Skimbleshanks, Demeter was proud of him. She remembered the stories of how she and her sister came to be there, and if it weren't for this cat, who knows what would have happened to those two. Tonight, he was entertaining the kittens by telling them about his many adventures on the railway, while the rest of the cats decided to entertain him in return by building him a train. It was impressive…until all the cats decided to collapse the train on purpose, just to make fun of Skimbleshanks. He took it all in good humor, however. Jenny was laughing her head off at the expression on her mate's face.

Demeter was very absorbed in what was happening. No one expected anything wrong. That's when all chaos broke lose.

There was a crashing, and Demeter ran out in the middle of the congregation of cats, when they heard a very distinct '_Mwa-ha-ha!_' Demeter knew quite well who that laugh belonged to…though she though he had worked to perfect it. "Macavity!" she yelled.

From the corner of her eye, she saw Munkustrap hissing at something in the corner, and all eyes turned to the cat who lost his place in the tribe so long ago. The ginger cat raised his paws in the air, and a daze came over Demeter. It was very familiar to her, and were she not under this odd spell, she would fall into an utter panic.

Before they knew it, Old Deuteronomy was gone, and Macavity raced passed all the cats, who were staggering and falling to the floor as the spell they were under broke, leaving them fighting to regain control of their bodies. Demeter caught Macavity's gaze for one moment, and a smug smile on his face told her all she needed to know… "I'll be back for you."

There was a flurry of panic. All the kitten queens hid. Rumpleteazer looked scared at the thought of her old leader being there. Munkustrap and the other toms went off to find Macavity and Old Deuteronomy. The kitten toms went with them to prove how brave they were. Demeter didn't know where Mungojerrie went. Whether he was hiding or went with the other toms, she didn't know. Either way, she would think him to do anything not to have to face Macavity, or the wrath of his tribe again.

The gold queen clung on tightly to her sister, who looked down at the other to assure her she was alright. They were together, with all the other queens nearby, and safe for the moment. "Macavity," Demeter breathed. "There's no one like Macavity..." With her guard weakened by the spell they had just recently been under, and the shock she was still in to see the ginger cat again, she let her guard down for once and told the kittens and nearby queens of just who this cat really was. And her sister, who knew the tom in a _different_ manner, took it upon herself to help her sister. (As to why she was focusing more on how the tom looked rather than his dastardly deeds, Demeter didn't know…)

All the toms came back, and Munkustrap tapped Demeter on the arm to make sure she was okay. Demeter sighed with relief to see him, giving him a nod to reassure him. Then the silver tom turned sharply to look up at a figure standing in the corner, raising his paws in an attempt to calm them.

Something wasn't right about this tom. Demeter did a basic Macavity-alarm once over: Fur on the back of the neck risen? No… Fear rising within her immortal soul? No… Nervous twitching of the tail, and the feeling like something was going to come up behind her and steal her away? No… Something definitely wasn't right about this 'Macavity'…

What was this dazed feeling she was getting? It wasn't much like the last time. It certainly was different. Demeter shook her head to free herself of the feeling, ignoring the excited clamors of the other cats in the tribe. What were they so excited about? "What's the matter?" Bombalurina asked.

Demeter looked up to see her sister's concerned face, before seeing the creature all the cats were following with a reverence reserved for their leader. What was going on? That wasn't Old Deuteronomy! Really, she wasn't sure what _it_ was. But her stomach began to tighten, and her head started swimming, as emotions flooded her being in a most undesirable way, before the panic that was starting to ensue inside her merged with a sudden anger.

"No!" Demeter yelled, pushing the kittens away from the creature. "Don't go near him." She pushed a very confused Jennyanydots out of the way, and she heard a few cats hissing at her, confused, uncertain of why she was acting so oddly. (Perhaps they thought she had finally lost it.)

"What's the matter?" Munkustrap's voice said. But she couldn't explain it. She had to do this, and there was no time to stall her reaction. It was now or never. She had to do something to defend the tribe that longed to keep her safe.

She jumped on the concealed creature's back; hissing at him, clawing into him. Immediately, she could feel the spell lifting from the tribe. Demeter was thrown off, and she heard the others scream '_Macavity!_'

Demeter hid behind Munkustrap, knowing full well that the ginger cat could turn on her at that moment. She hid her face as she heard other cats gasp and hiss.

Munkustrap was not prepared for the ginger tom as he came up to the two cats, and smacked the silver cat across the face, making him fall to the side. Then Macavity grabbed her arms. "No, no, no," Demeter cried, kicking her legs, suddenly terrified.

"You're coming back with me," he said under his breath. Everything was a blur. She felt someone grab her feet, and looked up to see Munkustrap trying to pull her away from the other tom. Each cat, though trying to take her for his own, did so with a certain care. At first, it seemed neither wanted to hurt her. But when this tug of war was becoming dangerously more forceful, and Macavity began digging his claws into her flesh, Alonzo jumped in and grabbed Demeter.

He carried her away to safety, hiding her in the shadows, before turning to the terrified queen. "Are you okay?" he asked. Demeter couldn't answer. She wasn't entirely sure what had just happened. "Demeter?" he said a little more forcefully.

The forceful tone in his voice made her snap back to reality enough to cry, "GO HELP MUNKUSTRAP!" And she took her shaky paw and pushed him away. Getting the idea, the black and white ran out, while Demeter trembled in her hiding spot.

* * *

Macavity was particularly angry when they took Demeter away from him. She belonged with him as far as he was concerned. He hadn't intended to come after her this night. He only wanted to gain his revenge with the rickety old once-leader. Oh, he wasn't going to hurt him, _really_. Or try not to. But if the old throw rug came back to the Jellicles with a few scratches on him, well...these things do happen. His hench cats were whisking the old cat away to his tribe while his snively 'little brother' stood before him. 

He had planned on showing his tribe that they were far more powerful than any other tribe, starting with the one he hated so much. Maybe he would keep the over-grown grey fluff ball for a training session or two. But they wouldn't harm him like they had tried Demeter. He had significantly reduced the number of cats in his tribe after that incident…as to how he managed that, the only ones who knew had mysteriously disappeared.

But upon seeing _her_ again, so happy, as though she were better off with them, changed his plans slightly. And now that the angry eyes of one annoying little tom were glaring at him, Macavity figured it best to do away with him himself.

Scratch for scratch, bite for bite, throw for throw, the ginger tom was slightly impressed by the silver tom's effort to keep him away from Demeter. But that just made Macavity madder, and with one fell swoop, Munkustrap was on the ground, knocked out, and out of his way.

But then that annoying Alonzo came around and tried to fight him, (tried being operative word.) He had bee stings worse than what Alonzo had done. But when he picked the black and white up over his head to toss him aside, there was a sharp pain on the ginger cat's side. One of the wounds that Munkustrap managed to inflict on him tore itself open, making it very painful for him to try and fight as he did before.

To make things worse, the Jellicle Cats had decided to turn on him (once again), and begin scratching at him, trying to drive him away. Annoyed, and in some pain as he held his side, he assessed the situation: stay and get scratched by kittens and old, deteriorating cats, or just leave right then and devise a plan for later, saving his dignity? After all, he got what he came there for, and managed to smack his little brother around in the process. (That was fun, really…)

Fighting large groups of cats was not his forte…he hardly wanted to relive _that_.

And as he raised the electric cables over his head, which he had rigged to blow out their power, he decided Demeter would have to wait. She would be _his_ eventually…

* * *

"Macavity's not there," the cats uttered in amazement. Demeter took a few moments to consider this before deciding to come out of hiding. 

One of the cats found a lantern and lit it, which helped a little in the darkness. The cats were roaming around, murmuring, unsure of what happened. Some put a paw on Demeter's shoulder, but she ignored them as she looked around for the silver tom that had saved her. Apparently, he was looking for her, too. While Demeter couldn't see all too well with the mixture of bright light and chaotic darkness, she could see he was a little worn out, unsteady, but eager to see her as well.

They raced up to each other, and Demeter took to licking his wounds, nuzzling him, wanting to hug him and never let go, and hoping no more harm would come to him because of her. "Thank you," she said softly into his ear. And the smile that came across the silver toms face told her everything would be okay.

"We have to find Old Deuteronomy," the other cats said. Even though she knew they needed to look for him, Demeter didn't want their moment cut short… But they tore their gaze from each other and looked to the other cats. Munkustrap tensed at the prospect of losing their leader.

"You ought to ask Mr. Mistoffelees, the original conjuring cat," Tugger's voice rang through. And of course, the cat who was no where to be seen during the fight used the opportunity to take center stage. (Why was he calling Mistoffelees a '_mister'_, anyway? Cats don't use that term…and even if they did, Tugger was older than Mistoffelees…)

Demeter felt Munkustrap pull at her paw, and he took her some place to sit. While Tugger continued talking, they sat very close to one another, simply enjoying the other's company after a long night, which was seemingly getting longer. They still had so much to do, and no Jellicle leader, and the two toms most suited for finding them were injured…should they really be sitting around discussing the supposed _magical_ _powers_ of a cat they've known all their lives?

Bombalurina jumped up next to Demeter, making sure she was okay, and giving a smile at seeing the two together. This drew Demeter's attention back to center stage, where the flashy entrance of a cat who usually stayed aloof took place. But when the lights all came back on at the flick of his paw, everyone looked surprised. She heard Jellylorum mutter, "Well, I never…" before going quiet in amazement at the toms conjuring turn.

"Did you know about this?" Demeter asked Munkustrap in a whisper.

"Uh…" he muttered, obviously caught off guard. "Yes…I did…why not?" Demeter nudged him gently as not to hurt him, and Munkustrap smiled to her. But him pointing out some things the conjuring cat was doing made her think if he knew of what the small black cat could do, he was very good at acting surprised.

"I need an assistant!" Mistoffelees yelled out, standing proudly, and looking around the area. When he saw some toms raising their paws, he emphasized, "a _lovely_ assistant."

"I hope he doesn't call me," Bombalurina muttered into Demeter's ear. But the conjuring cat chose Cassandra instead.

"Nice choice…," Tugger said, giving an 'ok' sign with his paw to show he approved.

"Why, that little…" Bombalurina muttered. Demeter held back a laugh and watched intently as Mistoffelees had Cassandra hide behind a long red blanket. He then said some words she didn't understand, blew some of what looked to be sparkling dust out of his paws, and then dramatically pulled the blanket off Cassandra to show that it was indeed no longer Cassandra, but Old Deuteronomy.

All the cats gasped, and no one bothered to applaud as the magical cat showed off the fruits of his labor. And for a moment, all but for a very confused old cat looking around with fur puffed out, everyone stood still.

Then Tugger made the first move to welcome back their leader. And everyone ran up to Old Deuteronomy to welcome him back, thank Mistoffelees - or now, the Magical Mr. Mistoffelees – and thank the Everlasting Cat everything was okay!

Munkustrap reached out for the leader, but was interrupted by the young voice. "Daylight, see the dew on the sunflower, and a rose that is fading…roses wither away. Like the sunflower, I yearn to turn my face to the dawn. I am waiting for the day." Someone had to explain this kitten to Demeter, because she was not making sense. Surely she was talking about the dawn preparing to come up over the horizon, but…roses…withered away? Maybe she was talking about the beauty of youth…which would mean she was talking about…?

"…announces the cat that can now be reborn, and come back to a different Jellicle life!" Even if no one was listening to what the silver tabby was saying before, they all suddenly snapped back out of their haze, and raced up to Old Deuteronomy. Each was eager to hear his decision. But the sad look on the old tom's face made for a long silence, in which none of the cats moved.

For a moment, Demeter wondered what the Heaviside layer was like. A cat to be reborn in more ways than one, resolved from their sins, able to be finally and purely happy for once…and it seemed everyone wanted that as they reached out to the form of the tribe leader.

One by one, the cats realized something was askew. When Demeter finally turned around, she saw the form of Grizabella coming up to Old Deuteronomy as well, unable to ignore the call the promise of rebirth had. "Turn your face from her," Bombalurina said to her sister, before walking off. Demeter supposed it was probably best if she didn't want to be seen as the one who continued to try and bring an outcast back.

That's when Grizabella made her silent plea, if they did not accept, to at least listen to her. Demeter joined the rest of the tribe in hiding her face from her. They would listen, but that didn't mean they had to look, did it? She hardly wanted to look at her anymore, anyway. She didn't know what to do, and was exhausted with this conundrum. By now, all Demeter wanted was for this night to be over.

And Old Deuteronomy bid her to sing…

"Memory, all alone in the moonlight, I can smile at the old days; I was beautiful then.

I remember the time I knew what happiness was…Let the memory live again." What was she speaking of? A time she knew happiness? Was she being truthful in saying she did know happiness here? Or just when she was young and beautiful? Demeter couldn't tell…maybe it was both. "Daylight, I must wait for the sunrise! I must think of a new life, and I mustn't give in…"

At this, everyone turned to see the queen who admitted her fading will. And they all watched as she fell. Demeter even saw her sister look as though she longed to go out and comfort the cat who showed such a vulnerable side when the glamour cat once thought that she had to hurt inwardly and those around her in order to find happiness. But no one knew what to do with the cat that had fallen to the ground, finally giving in to the weakness inside her. Demeter looked around for help, anyone, to take charge…she prayed secretly that someone would help the fallen queen.

"Sunlight through trees in summer, endless masquerading," sang the Heaviside sent voice of Jemima.

"Like a flower as the dawn is breaking," they sang together.

"The memory is fading," Grizabella admitted. Rising to her feet, she made her final plea, the last time she would ever bid their forgiveness again. Her last chance.

"Touch me! It's so easy to leave me all alone with my memory of my days in the sun! If you touch me, you'll understand what happiness is…" She looked off to the dawn, just before the sun dared to peak over the horizon. "Look…a new day has begun."

Dumbstruck, no one dared move. And of course, it was a kitten that rose to the occasion. Victoria kept her eyes fixed on Grizabella's outstretched paw, not on the eyes of all who were watching her. She looked back not to see the other cats, as Demeter might have done, but to look to the one cat whose opinion mattered: Old Deuteronomy. And with a smile for encouragement from their tribe leader, Victoria turned back to the outstretched paw and delicately placed her paw into Grizabella's, making the glamour cat genuinely smile.

Most of the cats came up to Grizabella then, including Demeter, each of them greeting her and telling her things they thought she should know. It ranged from Skimbleshanks telling her he was glad to see her again, to Bombalurina's simple 'welcome back'. (She was nice about it.) When the queen stood in front of Demeter, now a queen herself, the gold cat was sure Grizabella was remembering to a time when they were both young, one still a kitten, clinging to her, and hanging on every word she said. "You've really grown," Grizabella whispered.

Demeter smiled, feeling a little embarrassed for some reason. She wasn't sure what to say that didn't somehow come out wrong. Sure, there was a lot she _could_ say, but it could come out badly, or just sound like she were still very _angry_ with the queen. So Demeter just nodded her head softly, squeezing Grizabella's paw, before letting her go to her son, Munkustrap.

Munkustrap smiled gently to her. "I never meant to hurt you," Grizabella said to him. The silver tabby's smile waned slightly.

"It's all right," he said softly. And to keep discussion short, he said to her, "You're forgiven." He handed the glamour cat's paw to Old Deuteronomy, who put an arm around his daughter, who he had given a second chance to.

"How do you feel?" he asked her.

"Like…I'm a new cat," she admitted, her voice quavering full of emotions.

"Ah," said the tribe leader. "The feeling of being reborn." He gave the happy Grizabella a small hug, before leading her up to the tire. All the cats followed, though she had no idea what was going on

The decision was unanimous.

"Up, up, up, past the Russell Hotel! Up, up, up, up to the Heaviside Layer." All the cats sang as a confused former glamour queen was led, with all her family backing her, to the tire, which on that night was the key to finding a new life. "Up, up, up, past the Jellicle Moon! Up, up, up, up to the Heaviside Layer!" It was only with the acceptance of those she once loved and now counted on that they could will her to be the one to journey to the Heaviside Layer, and begin again.

With her would-be mother moving towards a new life, Demeter thought back to her own real mother. Did she ever have a moment when she thought about what ever happened to her kittens?

No, she couldn't be thinking about that anymore. With Grizabella as one of her mothers, she was carrying the burden of Demeter's real mother and taking it away with her, so they could both start again. If she could let go of that part of her life, maybe now Demeter could focus on more important things…

…A thought well guarded, as her eyes shifted to the silver tom who was also waving his past goodbye. No wonder the Jellicles regarded the Jellicle Moon with such veneration.

* * *

_A/N 2: Hehe, just one more chapter left. I'm not sure if i can be rightly called an epilogue or not...I guess we'll see. _

_Enkeli-kitsu - Well, I tried my best to weave the story around the Jellicle Ball, which is why it's supposed to fit... ideally. It's like they say with writing a mystery, start with the ending and work your way backwards! I hope it all makes sense and I didn't leave anything out._  
_Satin-n-Crimson __- slight confession, some of the dialogue is taken from the West End version in 2000-2001 when I looked up other people's experiences seeing the play. Like Jenny with Bustober, and Munku when they corner the twins, and Old D with the "Tell them." Actually, i think that's it...oh, wait, then Munku saying it might not be Macavity. Okay, ending list now, lol.  
_

_And I'm glad people like that I included the ball...I was panicking slightly that people would consider it incredibly boring. Maybe some of you do... O.o But I like most things to end with definite closure, and the ball gave alot of closure, I thought._


	33. Past the Jellicle Moon

**Chapter 33 – Past the Jellicle Moon**

There was a lot of confusion after the ball. The cats were milling about, heads in the clouds over the nights occurrences and surprises. While some continued in a post-Ball euphoria, others were disillusioned by morning. Many of the cats found place to rest, others went to their dens. Those that stayed were caught up in avid conversations.

Jennyanydots was licking the wounds of the two kittens, Electra and Etcetera. Apparently, they had been scratched in the face by Macavity. "This is why they say curiosity killed the cat! Its kittens like you! Wandering up to a cat that was trying to kit-nap someone…! Now hold still!"

"Ah!" Electra mumbled, trying to pull away. Etcetera already had her cuts tended too. All the same, she didn't look too happy. Alonzo was walking by, but upon catching sight of the frowning calico kitten, he took to more inconspicuous movements.

"What were you trying to do, anyway? Kittens like you can't fight a cat like that!"

Alonzo snuck past the fussy Jennyanydots over to Demeter, who had just been cornered by a talkative Bombalurina. "Everlasting Cat, what a night! You would think that the Ball would be just a party or something. But then you have cat fights, Heaviside callings, kit-nappings, and evil toms popping up out of nowhere…!" She stopped when Demeter caught her gaze. Bombalurina put her paw on her sister's shoulder. "Are you okay, by the way?" Demeter nodded.

"I'm glad we drove _him_ away," she continued. "He should have never come here to begin with! Trying to hurt Old Deuteronomy!" The two queens looked over to Alonzo, who was half trying to listen in on the conversation, half trying to join it. "What is it?" said the red queen with a sour look on her face.

"I just wanted to make sure Demeter was okay." He frowned back to Bombalurina. Then he turned to the gold queen, who smiled at him.

"Thank you for helping Munkustrap last night," she said to him, making Bombalurina somber up. "Are _you_ okay?"

"Yeah, perfectly," he said, trying to straighten up in front of the two queens. He looked over to the Bombalurina as though he expected her to say something to him. She rolled her eyes, and looked at her nails, making sure they were perfectly clean. Alonzo glared at the red queen. "I'm going to go find Cassie, now," he said with a sigh, before waving to Demeter.

"He's entertaining," Bombalurina said to her sister. "Trying to impress me."

"I think he was waiting for a thank you," Demeter corrected, making her sister give the gold queen a warning look. "Or…he was trying to impress you!" Afraid of further damaging her sister's currently fragile ego, Demeter pointed in a direction and informed her, "I'm going to find Munkustrap."

"Oh," Bombalurina said, looking sadly to her sister. Confused, Demeter was about to ask her what was wrong, but Bombalurina turned and walked to a different part of the area, disappearing around the corner. Figuring she needed to be alone, Demeter let her sister go and began to walk off to find a certain tom.

Another black and white cat caught her attention before she could get anywhere. Mistoffelees was sitting in an old pipe; his eyes half open, half closed. Every so often, his eyes would close completely, and he would begin to tilt to the side. When it seemed like he were about to crash to the ground, his eyes would shoot open momentarily so he could regain his balance. But he seemed to be fighting a losing battle. Demeter went up to the tom. "I think you should go to sleep," she warned him.

"I'm fine!" said the little tom, trying his hardest to focus on the queen in front of him. "I just…used up a lot of energy…is all." He took a long, deep breath, held it in for a second, then let it all out, closing his eyes. Again, he began to tilt to the side, but this time he didn't right himself in time. Before Demeter could react, he smacked his head on the side of the pipe.

"Ow!" he said, getting up, seeming very much awake now.

"Aw," Demeter cooed, feeling sorry for the tom. "Just go to sleep!"

"I'm fine," he said, yawning widely. He then rubbed his eyes. "Did you hear them, Demeter? They're calling me _magical_ now," he said, with a smile forming across his face. He didn't seem to keen on taking her advice at the time…

"Listen to her and go to bed!" Victoria came walking up, abandoning a tired Plato, who looked like he had just lost a fight (verbal, not physical), and was walking off with an air of annoyance. "You're such a kitten, Misto!"

"I said I'm _fine_!" Mistoffelees argued. Victoria sat next to him, and the two began a small argument. Demeter took that as her cue to leave. She returned to trying to find her silver tabby.

It wasn't long before she ran into a tall Maine Coon, who seemed a little dazed by the night's proceedings. He looked down at Demeter, before muttering a listless, "Hey, there," and patting her on the shoulder. Feeling patronized, the gold queen gave a glare that would put even Macavity in his place. But the Rum Tum Tugger had long built an immunity to any piercing, malicious stares. "Have you seen Bombalurina?"

"Why, so you can embarrass her again?" Demeter asked harshly; glad to have a moment to scold him without interruption of a Ball or fallen glamour cat. "That was awful the way you treated her during the ball. Have you no shame?"

"Everlasting Cat, do I have to hear it from you too?" Tugger put a paw over his eyes and sighed in annoyance. "I already got that from every other cat in the tribe! Well…except Etcetera. She was pretty happy about the whole thing...but she's a kitten, so I guess she can't be called a _cat_, per se…"

"I shouldn't even be talking to you," Demeter said wearily, waving her paws in the air in an attempt to dismiss the whole conflict. "I don't know how you're related to your brother…"

"Which one?" he asked hotly. Demeter's shocked look caused the tom to look away, trying hard not to show remorse for having said those words. Glad that he had enough respect for her to nearly cower at having said something inappropriate, she decided it was best to let the subject go. "Look, do you know where your sister is, or not? I need to talk to her."

Demeter sighed. "You'd want to catch her before she goes to sleep." Tugger looked as though he were reluctant to go. "She's not going to forgive you if you let it go overnight," she warned. "She went somewhere over there. Apologize to her right away, if that's what you want to do. Otherwise, I wouldn't go anywhere near her right now."

Tugger looked as though he wanted to say something, but gave up before he even began. Without another word, he took a deep breath and made his way to where the gold cat indicated her sister to be.

Demeter was about to continue looking for Munkustrap, when curiosity overwhelmed her. Would Bombalurina forgive Tugger this time? She knew she shouldn't be so nosy about it, but if she just _happened_ to run into them while trying to find another tom, and overhear a bit of their conversation…well, there wasn't really any need for it, as Bombalurina would probably tell her most of what happened either way.

Or would she? It was a well known fact Demeter wasn't too fond of Tugger and Bombalurina possibly getting together. Her sister might just let the details of this confrontation take back seat to the mediocre details of the gold queen's life. She had never really purposely eavesdropped on someone, but this might have been a good time to start.

So Demeter began walking in the direction that Tugger had gone, again passing Mistoffelees. He had completely passed out by now, leaning against Victoria. The little white cat sighed, mouthing to Demeter that her leg was asleep, as the tom snored loudly, before whispering "Presto" in his sleep. His paws twitched to whatever he was reliving in his dreams. The white queen rolled her eyes, and gave up on finding a way to get up without waking the tom.

After passing those two, the gold and black queen ended up back where she started: near the old tire. There were a few cats still milling about, including Tumblebrutus, who was complaining about being hungry because of Old Deuteronomy's closing statements. And that's where Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer were. "Oh! It hurts SO MUCH!" cried the tiger striped tom, as he lay on his back, dramatically bringing his paw to his forehead.

"What happened!" Demeter asked, kneeling to Mungojerrie's side. (Much more must have occurred than she thought…)

"Jerrie raced up to 'elp Alonzo with…you know…Macavity…when 'e got swiped in the face." Rumpleteazer laughed to herself. "'e went down like a light!"

Mungojerrie shot up, revealing the small scratch on his nose. "Well, I didn' see YOU comin' to anyone's rescue, now did I?"

"I was lickin' Munku-tapp's wounds, thank you very much!" Rumpleteazer said, looking quite proud. Then she looked up at Demeter and frowned. "But I guess it doesn't mean much if 'e's unconscious, eh?"

"You've been through worse, Mungojerrie," Demeter. He frowned at the hidden accusation in the queen's comment. "I think you'll survive."

Demeter got up to leave, but Rumpleteazer pulled on her tail, making her stop. "Are you okay, though?" the two looked up at the queen with some concern. "Do you need us to take you to your den?"

Demeter shook her head. "I will be fine. From now on." She got up, without anything inhibiting her from leaving, and was about to be on her way.

"That was great 'ow you unmasked Macavity!" Mungojerrie exclaimed.

"We've nevah been more proud!" The two began to cheer for the blushing queen. Demeter was going to rush off, when the two abruptly went quiet and looked off to two much louder cats.

"—arrogant, pompous, jerk that you are!" Bombalurina came around the corner, trailed by the Rum Tum Tugger. The few cats that were left in the area went quiet and became fixated at the scene. "Why do you keep following me? I don't want anything to do with you!" Bombalurina continued her deliberately long strides, with Tugger doing his best to look cool while chasing her.

"_Would you just listen to me!_ I'm trying to tell you something!" He would have made a good Pollicle with the way he barked out that statement. But Bombalurina continued.

"Oh, yeah? NOW you want to talk? After what _you_ did? What makes you think I'll listen to you now!" The red queen pulled the kittenish act of putting her paws over her ears.

"BOMBA, JUST STOP FOR ONE MINUTE!" he yelled. Bombalurina picked up her pace, and Tugger followed with the persistence of the curious cat he was heralded to be. The two disappeared around a corner, and there was silence among the cats in the area.

"Well…" Mungojerrie said, breaking the silence. "If she won't 'ave 'im, I wouldn't mind bein' 'er mate!"

"She's too old for you," Rumpleteazer said dismissively. "An' if she won't give _Tugger_ the time of day, she would think even less of you!"

Demeter was staring at where her sister had disappeared, unsure of whether the Maine Coon was really wanting to apologize to her by now or just following her for the sake of annoying her. "She'll forgive him, I think," Demeter said, shaking her head. "She usually does. And if he's so adamant about talking to her…" she didn't finish her statement. Really, she never imagined what it would be having her sister mated to the Rum Tum Tugger. The thought alone would be enough to give her a headache…

"They have too much history," Demeter said with a frown. She then turned to Rumpleteazer. "And what do you mean she's too old for him? She's about as old as Munkustrap!"

"'e's too old for 'im, too!" Rumpleteazer protested. She then started giggling at her own unintentional joke, causing Mungojerrie to stare at his sister like she was insane.

"But I'm a little older than you two!" Demeter said, meaning to compare her age to Munkustrap's.

"You wanna be my mate!" Mungojerrie asked, surprised.

"NO!" Rumpleteazer said. "You need someone younger than you!"

"I wasn't offering to be his mate!" Demeter said, blushing furiously. She turned away from an equally embarrassed Mungojerrie, who had momentarily considered the possibility of being mated to a high strung queen. And Rumpleteazer laughed at the sudden awkwardness between the two.

Her unrestrained laughter carried through the area, to the ears of most of the cats in the junkyard. Even to the ears of one cat who was watching his three former tribe mates sadly. The ginger coated tom had made his way to an area where he could overlook the entire junkyard without being caught. Away from his lackeys, he was too weak to be angry with the night's events. He was now staring, fixated on the three out in the open area.

They looked happy - a feeling he was becoming less and less familiar with. Of course, nearly electrocuting himself for the sake of a flashy exit forced him to stop for a moment. Stopping caused him to think, a task easier performed away from the draining aura of his tribe. Back where he once belonged, though completely out of place, he longed to stay there. He saw them give Grizabella a new life. He would never be given that. He was too far gone, and knew that rebirth was not an option for him.

He would regain his energy and make his way back to his tribe. And when he returned, he would probably become more violent than before, trying to lose himself in the pain and the mind-numbing insanity that came with his self-inflicted placement in life. And he would suffer each time he had nothing to do, because he would only be able to think about the cat that looked so happy with her tribe. Dragging her down with him would seem like the right choice at those points in time. But at that moment, all he could do was accept that he never had a chance for that kind of happiness. He destroyed all those chances long ago…

Macavity picked himself up, teetering slightly. Closing his eyes, he regained his composure, and found the path that would make it seem like he was never there. This place wasn't for him, he reasoned. As he left the junkyard, he comforted himself with the thought that the Jellicle life wasn't suited for him, anyway.

* * *

After having made sure that Old Deuteronomy arrived safely to his den, Munkustrap was happy for the chance to rest. At that moment, all he wanted to do was sleep. He dragged himself into his den and collapsed onto the soft cushions that made up his bed, before jumping back up, groaning at the pain. The throbbing gash on his side stopped him from trying _that_ again. 

So he turned three times on the cushion, before _gently_ lowering himself into a supposedly comfortable position. That didn't work, either. He was still lying on a wound. Try and try again, there seemed to be wounds in all the wrong places, stopping him from finding that fabled 'comfort spot'.

And what was worse, the scratches were itchy! But he couldn't very well scratch them; he would make it worse! So he opted to lick his wounds. However, this was more difficult than it should have been, because he had to try his best to not further his injuries. Determined to take care of the scratches on his back first, he sat himself down and devised a plan on how to go about it. He then teetered on his right side, while trying to curl his spine so he could lick the wounds on his back. His free paw absentmindedly scratched at the more itchy wounds. It was an interesting sight to see…

…as confirmed by the giggle at the entrance. Munkustrap toppled over and ended up on his back, looking over to the entry to his den to see the upside down image of an amused Demeter. He picked himself up quickly, blushing furiously. "How long have you been there!"

"Do you need help?" Demeter mused, smiling at him. She walked in, not waiting for a reply, nuzzling him gently. "You're so funny sometimes, Munku."

"Um…thank you?" he asked, smiling nervously. He purred as Demeter licked his cheek. Then he was knocked down onto the cushion while the gold queen took to cleaning the wounds on Munkustrap's back. "Ow," he winced, looking back at her.

"Toms," Demeter said, shaking her head. "You can fight with other cats and take a few scratches, but the second you feel an ounce of pain…" She smiled to the tom who looked a little offended. "They're not deep. You'll be fine, you _kitten_."

"Hey…" Munkustrap was about to pout, but thought it unwise to fuel the 'kitten' accusation, and instead just winced at the pain. "Well, you could be a little gentler!" he said finally.

Demeter rolled her eyes, but did clean more tenderly after that. "Munkustrap?"

"Hmm?" asked the cat, who was considering whether it would be rude to fall asleep.

"Thank you," she said. "And I'm sorry you're always getting hurt because of me. You're always trying to protect, and I only ever hurt you in return…"

"It really didn't hurt that much," Munkustrap replied, thinking she was talking about the pain of her licking his wounds.

"Toms always say that," Demeter stated. "Always saying they're _fine_."

"First we're all kittens, then we're always saying 'we're fine'?" Munkustrap asked.

There was a moment of silence. "Toms always manage to do both," Demeter finished.

Munkustrap laughed for a moment at her attempt to save face. Then he got up and pushed the doting queen away for a moment so that he could look her in the eyes. "You don't have to apologize. Demeter, I would do anything for you."

"And…the tribe."

"Mostly you," Munkustrap assured her. Demeter slowly smiled, realizing he meant it. She then scooted close to him and laid her head gently against him, closing her eyes and purring. Munkustrap put an arm around her. "Are you tired?" he asked, trying hard not to yawn and reveal the threat of sleep about to overtake him.

"Exhausted," Demeter muttered.

"Go to sleep, then," he told her.

"I'm okay," she said, getting up and trying to shake the sleep out of her. "I…you need…you're injured and…"

"I'm fine," he said to her. He was really too tired for this to turn into a stand-off of who was more 'fine' or 'okay' than the other. "I'm tired, too."

"Should I go back to my den?" she asked, frowning. With her being so tired, that small walk must have seemed like an expedition.

"You're right where you should be," Munkustrap said. Demeter looked confused, but the silver tabby pulled her down on the cushion, and then lied down beside her, holding her tightly so she wouldn't try to get up and go back to her den just to be 'polite'. After a few moments, Demeter relaxed and resumed purring, quickly giving into sleep.

But now Munkustrap's mind was reeling. There were butterflies in his stomach as he thought of what he needed to do now. It wouldn't be quite as he once planned it. It would take to long to wait for another full moon. And he would have to wait until he was mostly healed from his fight last night. Maybe the moonlight wouldn't be just right, or there would be clouds in the sky. But he could still take her to the park, and hope for the music to play. Angels don't _necessarily_ have to come down from on high to sing to them, (but he hardly expected that to begin with…) Now he was just being silly, but his tired mind was running too quickly to make sense. There was only one thought to comfort him then.

Perfect. When he asked Demeter to be his mate, no matter what the circumstances, it would be perfect.

He hoped his heart wasn't beating too hard, hinting to the queen that his thoughts were making him nervous. But she could hardly care at the moment. She was too busy dreaming. There were no nightmares to haunt her while she was curled up next to the one she loved. She was no longer cold, helpless, abandoned, or forgotten. She was safe dreaming of the enchantment of the ball, and how her life now made sense under the light of the Jellicle Moon.

-Fin-

* * *

_ F__inal Authors Note: (the story ended up THERE if you don't want to read it. Hope you had a Merry Christmas!)  
_

_Just three confession I want to make. 1) I always meant to change the title. 2) I always meant to change the rating. 3) When I started writing this, I didn't really think much of Demeter. I just thought she would be easiest to write about. Now I love the little queen. Now, this story on WORD was 211 pages long, and contained 101,192 words including chapter titles._

_Satin: I have no idea if you got my PM, so I'll restate the gist of it. I've always wanted a standing ovation ((gets teary eyed)) And I have many stories in the works, one about Alonzo, one about Victoria (the seem most likely to be writte at the moment)...But we'll see what happens.  
Demo: Aw, thanks. I had to _try _and write it beautifully. It was already beautiful to begin with, I didn't want to destroy it.  
Sarabi: I hope I did the ending justice. I've never finished a story before, but I have always been bad at writing conclusions to essays, lol! So this ending caused me much stress and a couple of rewrites...And I really wanted to end it on a full moon since it started on a new moon.  
TigerLily: I always seem to confuse you... lol. And I will write more, though nothing can top the feeling of everyone reviewing **my first chapter story**! I'm excited it's over too. Not sad, though. It's a milestone for me!  
Chimalmaht: ((pats you on the head)) I'm glad you got your inet back too! Lol.  
Bombalurinasara: That was alot for you to read from start to finish! I checked...it's one of the longest Cats stories to date (about third longest, if some haven't been deleted or moved). I'm too verbose... But thanks for your review!_

_Thank all of you for reading and reviewing! It made me so happy to make people laugh and to entertain them as well, that it's definitely something I'll do again. Someday, I'll revise this story, the parts I never really referred back to, the grammar that needs to be fixed. But first, of course, I'll write the other stories that are trying to be written. Thanks again, and ending the really long authors note!  
_


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